ARCHIVED - First fine annulled in Spain following court ruling on home confinement
The country's top court ruled State of Alarm to combat the spread of Covid was unconstitutional.
Spain's Constitutional Court ruling that the nationwide lockdown imposed in March 2020 was unconstitutional has led to the first annulment of a fine imposed for breaching confinement restrictions.
Last week, judges concluded that the Spanish government should have declared a State of Emergency, which requires prior parliamentary approval, to enforce a lockdown across the country, "restricting fundamental rights", rather than a State of Alarm.
And a legal team representing a minor who was given a €601 fine for floating the confinement restrictions has used the ruling in a Madrid court to have the sanction quashed - the first time the ruling has been used in this way.
In its summary, the capital's Contentious-Administrative Court said the decision of the Constitutional Court "produces general effects from the date of their publication in the Official State Gazette (on Monday), so the unconstitutionality decision has retrospective effects in as much as it invalidates the annulled law from its very origin."
The judge therefore concluded that, in his opinion, the law applied to the fine for skipping confinement had "apparent coverage and not real coverage".
The controversial ruling of Spain's top court also states that all criminal and administrative processes affected by the decision must be now reviewed, arguing that "sanctioned acts" no longer constitute a crime, misdemeanor or administrative offence and cannot be punished.
"It would violate the right to legality", the published ruling adds.
IMAGE: Archive