The Catalan Parliament will file a complaint for malfeasance against judge Pablo Llarena and the criminal chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court. The announcement was made on Thursday evening by speaker Roger Torrent and confirmed by the Parliament's Bureau in an extraordinary meeting this Friday morning. The decision has come after the judge again refused to let Jordi Sànchez attend Parliament to participate in a debate on his investiture as president, despite interim measures decreed by the UN Human Rights Committee.
The measure was passed with votes in favour from JxCat and ERC and votes against from Cs and PSC. During the meeting, the chamber's lawyers expressed agreement over the background to the question, about the existence of a violation of the JxCat deputy's political rights, but also expressed mistrust as to whether the Parliament can adopt such a measure. Despite the lawyers having noted they are not experts in criminal law, they have been entrusted with drafting the complaint against judge Llarena and the judges of the criminal chamber who could have intervened.
At the same time, at the suggestion of Catalunya en Comú-Podem, they will also present a formal complaint to the General Council of Legal Power (CGPJ), whilst the lawsuit is drafted. The party also asked for an external criminal lawyer to be consulted before the lawsuit is presented, a proposal turned down by the Bureau.
The opposition described the decision as "rash" and "imprudent". They will now study the actions they might have available, believing it might be "illegal" to use public resources for such a lawsuit. In any case, they say Sànchez would have to present it as an individual.