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When a community has breached the Constitution

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 4:12 am
by Joywtseo421
Article 155 of the Constitution provides for an exceptional mechanism, which has never been applied to date. Following the statements made by the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, the Government is considering activating Article 155 CE.

The provision regulates a subsidiary control mechanism (of an exceptional nature) for extreme situations, consisting of non-compliance with the obligations imposed by the Constitution or the laws or actions that seriously threaten the general interest of Spain by an Autonomous Community.

Article 155 CE 1. If an Autonomous Community fails to comply with the obligations imposed on it by the Constitution or other laws, or acts in a manner that seriously undermines the general interest of Spain, the Government, after having submitted a request to the President of the Autonomous Community and, if this is not heeded, with the approval of an absolute majority sweden whatsapp number of the Senate, may adopt the necessary measures to compel the Autonomous Community to comply with said obligations or to protect the aforementioned general interest. 2. In order to implement the measures provided for in the previous section, the Government may give instructions to all the authorities of the Autonomous Communities.


This is an exceptional measure . It implies political control of the autonomous communities by the State. It can only be applied in two cases:

When a community has seriously attacked the general interest.
Procedure of Article 155
First of all, the Government must send a request to the President of the Autonomous Community. In the case of Catalonia, the President of the Government must warn the President of the Generalitat.

If the President of the Community ignores this, the Government submits a proposal for measures to the Senate. The Senate must approve them by an absolute majority.