## Facts

- The Parliament of Catalonia enacted Law 19/2017 (Sept. 6, 2017) to regulate a binding referendum on Catalonia’s independence, set for Oct. 1, 2017, and to create an Electoral Syndicate.
- The law declared the “people of Catalonia” to be a sovereign political subject and asserted the Catalan Parliament represented that sovereignty.
- It provided that a “yes” result would trigger a declaration of independence and initiation of a process to constitute a Catalan republic.
- The law invoked international instruments and resolutions relating to self-determination and democracy as support for its legal basis.
- The law was adopted through an expedited parliamentary procedure that altered the agenda and curtailed ordinary procedural guarantees, including time for amendments and the opportunity to seek an advisory opinion from the Council of Statutory Guarantees.
- On Sept. 7, 2017, the President of the Government of Spain, through the State Attorney, filed an action of unconstitutionality challenging the entire law.
- The government invoked the constitutional mechanism that automatically suspended the challenged law upon the court’s admission of the case; the court admitted the challenge and suspended the law on Sept. 7, 2017.
- The Constitutional Court (Plenary) issued Judgment 114/2017 on Oct. 17, 2017.

## Issues

1. Whether an autonomous community may, by ordinary legislation, declare a territorial “people” within Spain to be sovereign and establish a binding self-determination referendum on secession.
2. Whether the law violated constitutional principles of national sovereignty, the unity of the nation, and the supremacy and amendment rigidity of the Constitution.
3. Whether the law intruded on the state’s exclusive authority over referendums.
4. Whether the legislative procedure used to enact the law violated constitutional requirements of representative democracy, political pluralism, and opposition rights.

## Decision

- The Constitutional Court unanimously declared Law 19/2017 unconstitutional and void in its entirety.
- The Court held the law violated national sovereignty and the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation by attributing sovereignty to the “people of Catalonia” and authorizing a unilateral secession process.
- The Court held the law contravened the supremacy and binding force of the Constitution by asserting legitimacy superior to, or independent from, the constitutional order and by bypassing constitutional amendment procedures.
- The Court held the law encroached on the state’s exclusive competence to authorize and regulate referendums, particularly those affecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- The Court held the law was also invalid because it was enacted through a legislative process that breached essential parliamentary guarantees and impaired the rights of opposition members.
- The Court confirmed that the suspended law produced no valid legal effects, including regarding the planned referendum and institutions created by the law.

## Legal Principles

- National sovereignty resides in the Spanish people as a whole; sub-state institutions cannot unilaterally redefine the bearer of sovereignty or claim a separate constituent authority.
- The unity of the state and changes affecting the subject of sovereignty or territorial integrity require compliance with constitutional amendment procedures; ordinary regional legislation cannot achieve those results.
- The Constitution is the supreme, binding norm on all public authorities; no public power may place itself outside the constitutional order or assert an overriding source of legitimacy.
- Authorization and legal regulation of referendums are reserved to the state under the constitutional allocation of competences; an autonomous community cannot establish a binding referendum on secession without state participation and authorization.
- Legislative enactment must respect basic requirements of representative democracy, including meaningful deliberation, compliance with parliamentary rules, and protection of minority and opposition rights.
- International self-determination norms do not provide a unilateral right of secession for a territorial part of a democratic state with political participation and autonomy, and cannot displace domestic constitutional requirements.

## Conclusion

The Constitutional Court invalidated Catalonia’s referendum law in full, holding that unilateral regional legislation cannot claim separate sovereignty, authorize a binding secession referendum, or bypass Spain’s constitutional supremacy, state referendum powers, and core parliamentary guarantees.


Law on the Referendum of Self-Determination by the Parliament of Catalonia (Judgment), Judgment No. 114/2017 (Spain Const. Ct. Oct. 17, 2017)