07/02/2024 - 09/02/2024
Madrid – A delegation of the Venice Commission conducted a visit to Madrid, Spain, within the context of the preparation of its opinion “on the rule of law requirements of amnesties, with particular reference to the parliamentary bill of Spain “on amnesty for the institutional, political and social normalisation of Catalonia”. This opinion follows a request by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 8 December 2023, on the rule of law requirements which an amnesty should fulfill, as well as a second request made on 13 December 2023 by the President of the Spanish Senate in the form of six questions related to the Spanish parliamentary bill.
The Venice Commission delegation met with the President of the General Council of Lawyers, with the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, with the Justice Committee of the Congress of Deputies, with the President and representatives of the General Council of the Judicial Power, with the President of the Senate and representatives of the political groups in the Senate, with the State Public Prosecutor, with the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, with representatives of the academia and with a representative of the Government of Catalonia.
The draft opinion is planned to be submitted for adoption at the 138th plenary session of the Venice Commission (15-16 March 2024). The adopted opinion will become public thereafter.