Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 19 December 2019.
Criminal proceedings against Oriol Junqueras Vies.
Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo.
Reference for a preliminary ruling — Expedited procedure — Institutional law — Citizen of the European Union elected to the European Parliament while being held in provisional detention in the context of criminal proceedings — Article 14 TEU — Concept of ‘Member of the European Parliament’ — Article 343 TFEU — Immunities necessary for the performance of the tasks of the European Union — Protocol (No 7) on the privileges and immunities of the European Union — Article 9 — Immunities enjoyed by Members of the European Parliament — Immunity as regards travel — Immunities as regards sessions — Personal, temporal and material scope of the various immunities — Waiver of immunity by the European Parliament — Request to waive immunity from a national court — Act concerning the election of Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage — Article 5 — Term of office — Article 8 — Electoral procedure — Article 12 — Verification of the credentials of Members of the European Parliament following the official declaration of the election results — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Article 39(2) — Election of Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot — Right to stand as a candidate at elections.
Case C-502/19. (2019)
Language: English

Following the adoption of those laws and the holding of that referendum, the Ministerio fiscal (Public Prosecutor’s Office, Spain), the Abogado del Estado (Counsel for the State, Spain) and the Partido político VOX (VOX political party) brought criminal proceedings against several persons, including Mr Junqueras Vies, alleging that they had taken part in a secessionist process and committed, in that context, acts classified as three criminal offences, namely, first, ‘rebellion’ or ‘sedition’, secondly, ‘civil disobedience’, and, thirdly, ‘misappropriation of funds’.
Mr Junqueras Vies was placed in provisional detention during the investigation stage of those criminal proceedings, pursuant to a decision adopted on 2 November 2017 on the basis of Article 503 of the Law on Criminal Procedure. That decision was subsequently renewed several times, with the result that Mr Junqueras Vies was still in provisional detention on the date that the request for a preliminary ruling which gave rise to the present judgment was lodged.

Legal relationship diagram (Graphviz):
digraph {
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    node [shape=box];
    
   "Ministerio fiscal (Public Prosecutor’s Office, Spain)"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Abogado del Estado (Counsel for the State, Spain)"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Partido político VOX (VOX political party)"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Several persons, including Mr Junqueras Vies"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Mr Junqueras Vies"[shape=doubleoctagon];
   "Article 503 of the Law on Criminal Procedure"[shape=trapezium];
    
   "Ministerio fiscal (Public Prosecutor’s Office, Spain)"->"Criminal proceedings";
   "Abogado del Estado (Counsel for the State, Spain)"->"Criminal proceedings";
   "Partido político VOX (VOX political party)"->"Criminal proceedings";
   "Criminal proceedings"->"Several persons, including Mr Junqueras Vies";
   "Several persons, including Mr Junqueras Vies"->"Committed ‘rebellion’ or ‘sedition’, ‘civil disobedience’, and ‘misappropriation of funds’."[dir=none];
   "Criminal proceedings"->"Provisional detention";
   "Provisional detention"->"Mr Junqueras Vies";
   "Provisional detention"->"Pursuant to a decision adopted on 02/11/2017"[dir=none];
   "Pursuant to a decision adopted on 02/11/2017"->"Article 503 of the Law on Criminal Procedure"[dir=none];
}