The two euthanasia applicants who currently see the decision on their right to die paralyzed will have to wait a little longer. The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has declared itself incompetent to resolve both cases and has left the decision in the hands of the contentious courts of Barcelona in which the challenges of the relatives of the two petitioners, represented by the ultra-Catholic Association of Christian Lawyers.
The lack of a decision by the Administrative Contentious Chamber of the TSJC further delays the final resolution of the first cases in Catalonia in which Christian Lawyers is trying to use judicial means to prevent the right to die with dignity of two applicants. In other autonomous communities, the courts have already rejected the claims of family members represented by the ultra entity.
In Catalonia, two courts suspended on 8 and 9 August two euthanasias requested by a 23-year-old girl and a 54-year-old man, both suffering from recognised serious pathologies and high levels of disability. Their assisted deaths had been authorised by the Generalitat commission which, in accordance with the euthanasia law, assesses and decides on cases, but Abogados Cristianos obtained their preventive suspension before the court. At the same time as they provisionally suspended the euthanasia, the two contentious magistrates forwarded the files to the TSJC, considering that the High Court was competent to rule on the merits of the case.
The slow pace of the judicial process has become evident once again in this case: according to the resolutions of the TSJC, the High Court took almost a month to start the procedure based on the decisions of the contentious courts and it was not until September 5 that the Christian Lawyers were processed to formulate their claim, which remains pending because the Contentious Chamber of the Superior Court of Catalonia has now left it in the hands of the courts of first instance.
The contentious chamber of the TSJC claims that it is not competent because the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, which authorises euthanasia, is an organ of the Generalitat whose resolutions must be reviewed by the contentious-administrative courts, without it appearing among the powers of the high court, which would be responsible for ruling on the resolutions of the ministries or departments.
Now, a new procedure of at least fifteen days is opened for the case to return to the contentious courts, for the Christian Lawyers to formulate their claim again, for the Generalitat to respond and for the magistrates to decide.
