PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and CUP have brought to the Parliament this Wednesday a bill to reform the rules of the Catalan Chamber, with which they want to equip themselves with regulatory instruments to adapt to the demands of today’s society and legally shield sanctions against hate speech.
In a statement, they explain that the law, which consists of 9 articles, responds to a request from the Parliament’s board to the groups, motivated by a recent recommendation made by the Commission of the Deputy’s Statute. The registered text states that deputies cannot use, in any of their communications, language that is “offensive or defamatory” that discriminates, slanders, promotes, encourages or incites hatred.
It also modifies matters related to requests for reconsideration and calls to order, making it clear that deputies must respect the rules of order established by the rules and the Code of Conduct of the members of Parliament, so they must avoid disorder, making accusations or recriminations among themselves and uttering offensive or inappropriate expressions to decorum, among other issues.
In addition to specifying the role that the Commission of the Deputy’s Statute and the Board must play in case a deputy breaches their duties or the Code of Conduct, it establishes various sanctions depending on the severity of the acts, ranging from reprimands to fines from 600 to 12,000 euros, classified as minor, serious or very serious.
Thus, minor offenses will be considered behaviors that involve a breach of the principles and rules of conduct of the Chamber’s regulations, and serious ones those that involve providing incomplete information about compliance with the obligations stipulated by the aforementioned regulations and the Code of Conduct or accepting gifts, favors and other personal services valued between 150 and 600 euros, among other issues.
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Very serious offenses include intentionally providing partial information, omitting or manipulating relevant information regarding compliance with the regulations and the Code of Conduct; failing to abstain in case of conflict of interest; accepting gifts or presents valued over 600 euros, and engaging in threats, coercion, intimidation or acts of violence that attack the dignity, moral or physical integrity of any person.
In the sanctions chapter, it has been agreed to sanction minor offenses with a public reprimand; serious ones with a public reprimand and a fine of 600 to 6,000 euros, and very serious ones with a public reprimand and a fine of 6,001 to 12,000 euros.
If necessary, in very serious cases, the possibility of prohibiting the deputy from being part of a Parliament delegation, an interparliamentary organization, an interparliamentary conference or any institutional forum for a maximum period of one year will also be studied.
Precisely, the Parliament’s Board imposed on Tuesday a public reprimand on the deputy and leader of Aliança Catalana (AC), Sílvia Orriols, and on Vox’s parliamentary spokesperson, Joan Garriga, following the decision of the Deputy’s Statute Commission to apply a minor offense to both for breaching article 7 of the Code of Conduct, which states that deputies must have an exemplary and respectful attitude.
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