In the context of the various legal proceedings relating to the Catalan Independence process and the October 1st referendum, the fact that a judge dismisses the position of the public prosecutor's office is so exceptional that it becomes relevant news. If, moreover, the decision affects an issue as relevant as Catalan political prisoners’ leave to go to work for a few hours a day or to do voluntary work, in application of Article 100.2 of the Prison Regulations, it becomes even more relevant news.
This is what judge Maria Jesús Arnau, of Catalonia’s Penitentiary Surveillance Court number 5, has done in a 14-page interlocutory appeal, destroying each and every one of the arguments presented by the public prosecutors to reject Jordi Cuixart’s licence granted by Article 100.2. Cuixart’s leave has been the first to be opposed by the public prosecutor's office and the rest of Catalan political prisoners will probably be treated alike. The political and media noise generated by the Spanish right wing and unionism, as well as the public pronouncements of the Spanish Supreme Court prosecutor's office, have failed to achieve their goals, for the time being. However, we still need to wait for the Provincial Court’s final decision.
The judge's reprimand to the public prosecutor is expressed in sentences like "what the public prosecutor seems to forget", "it would be contrary to our legal system", "a legitimate thought and decision (by Cuixart)"... and so on.
Or, for example, when she expands on whether Cuixart must have repented before he could take advantage Article 100.2: "It must be stated again that such thoughts and wills of the inmate are legitimate within our legal system, given that they are included in the agendas of various political parties active in Catalonia and neither such parties nor their electoral programmes have been declared unconstitutional, either by law or by judicial resolution".
And one could not agree more on something that seems fundamental but that is so difficult to read in court rulings.