EU court paves way for Puigdemont amnesty by backing Spanish law

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has given broad backing to Spain’s amnesty law as regards EU law, a decision that has a direct impact on the case of Carles Puigdemont, who is still waiting on a ruling by the Supreme Court.

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The Luxembourg judges consider the legislation neither to conflict with the European Union’s financial interests nor to run counter to the EU directive on terrorism**.**

In response to two separate requests sent by Spain’s Court of Audit and the National High Court for a preliminary ruling, the latter tied to the case in which Puigdemont is under investigation for terrorism, the Luxembourg judges have confirmed the view (source in Spanish) already set out by the institution’s Advocate General last November.

Even though the law was passed under very particular circumstances, as a condition imposed by the ERC and Junts parties for backing Pedro Sánchez’s investiture, and without consulting European courts, Advocate Dean Spielmann already gave the text the green light at the time, arguing it had been approved “in a genuine context of political and social reconciliation” and ruling out that it amounted to a “self-amnesty”.

However, the CJEU will not rule on the specific application of the amnesty to Puigdemont or on whether the domestic arrest warrant remains in force. That decision lies with the Spanish courts, which must interpret and apply the European judgment in the cases that remain open.

Can Puigdemont return to Spain now?

Not immediately. The CJEU’s backing for the amnesty law (PDF) does not in itself lift the arrest warrant that has been hanging over Puigdemont for almost nine years. That warrant is in the hands of the Supreme Court, which has so far refused to grant him amnesty on the grounds that there was personal enrichment in the diversion of funds for the 1 October referendum.

The final say rests with the Constitutional Court, which is examining the former president’s appeal for constitutional protection, but will not rule on it until October, once the summer judicial recess is over. Only if the Constitutional Court finds in Puigdemont’s favour and orders the Supreme Court to withdraw the warrant will he be able to set foot in Spain without risking arrest.

The origin of a law that has brought two courts to a standstill

Congress approved the amnesty law in November 2023, as a condition set by Junts and ERC for supporting Pedro Sánchez after elections that produced no clear majority. The law wipes out offences linked to the Catalan trials, the illegal referendum of 1 October 2017, the unilateral declaration of independence and the embezzlement of public funds linked to those events, although it excludes personal enrichment and acts of terrorism that have endangered life or physical integrity.

The People’s Party challenged the entire law before the Constitutional Court, which upheld it on 26 June 2025 by six votes to four, with Cándido Conde-Pumpido’s progressive majority rejecting the argument that it was a “self-amnesty”.

But that endorsement did not end the dispute: the Supreme Court, with Pablo Llarena as investigating judge in the ‘procés’ case, has since refused to apply the law to Puigdemont, arguing that there was personal enrichment in the diversion of funds for the 1 October vote, an interpretation that the Supreme Court’s Appeals Chamber confirmed in April 2025.

It was this clash between Spanish courts that took the matter to Luxembourg. The Court of Audit asked the CJEU whether wiping out the accounting liability for events on 1 October 2017 affects the EU’s financial interests, and the National High Court asked whether the amnesty can be applied to the Committees for the Defence of the Republic, whose members are under investigation for terrorism.

Spielmann answered both questions with a “no” in November, paving the way for Thursday’s ruling. Puigdemont remains at the centre of the case, living in Belgium since October 2017, apart from the brief appearance in Barcelona in August 2024.

From now on, the CJEU judgment will become part of the arguments that both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court must weigh up in the pending proceedings related to the amnesty.

The European ruling strengthens the position of those who defend the law’s constitutionality and its compatibility with EU law, although it does not in itself resolve Puigdemont’s legal predicament.