The Catalan case and the binding force of Constitutional Court judgments Commentary on Constitutional Court Judgment 14/2026, of February 23. Concerning the appeal for legal protection num. 8238-2022. (BOE num. 76, of March 27, 2026)

Abstract

In this judgment, the Constitutional Court upheld the amparo appeal brought by several members of the Citizens Parliamentary Group (Ciutadans) in the Parliament of Catalonia. Accordingly, it declared that the Parliamentary Bureau had violated their right to perform their representative functions under the conditions established by law (Article 23(2) of the Spanish Constitution), in conjunction with citizens' right to participate in public affairs through their representatives (Article 23(1) of the Constitution). The Court further decided to restore the applicants' rights by annulling the decision of the Bureau of the Parliament of Catalonia of 28 September 2022 insofar as it admitted for consideration certain sections of various proposed resolutions submitted by parliamentary groups during the debate on the general political orientation of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia. It also annulled the Bureau's subsequent decision of 29 September 2022, which rejected a request for reconsideration of the previous decision. The Court based its ruling on the finding that, by adopting those decisions, the Bureau of the Parliament of Catalonia had manifestly failed to comply with several rulings of the Constitutional Court issued in connection with the procés, the content of which was known to the Bureau.