Juan Carlos I defends his immunity and claims that being “emeritus” is not being inactive

The justice of each country has its own peculiarities and that of the United Kingdom trusts that the parties will make it easier for them. In the harassment lawsuit filed by Corinna Larsen vs. King Juan Carlos, the high court judge Matthew Nicklin wanted both parties to submit to him a joint report stating what they share and where they differ to help him determine whether the emeritus he may have to answer in that country for the accusation of the one who was his lover or on the contrary You can only do it before the Spanish Supreme Court.

In the report, to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access, both the lawyer and professor of Criminal Law Bernardo del Rosal, who acted as an expert at the request of the King’s defense, as Jose Antonio Choclán, Larsen’s lawyer in Spain and an expert chosen by her to inform the magistrate about the scope of the emeritus’ immunity, agree that it is inviolable by any act, personal or professional, committed before abdication in June 2014, but also in that “the only court that can have jurisdiction “over him is the Supreme.

They also share that the Spanish Constitution does not regulate “the legal status of a king who has abdicated” and that he continues to be a member of the Spanish Royal Household because he is the father of the current monarch, which made him worthy of a secretary, security and an allocation of state budgets, as well as that He publicly retired from his duties on June 2, 2019.

Scopes and meanings

But the joint document signed by both experts acquires even more relevance by making explicit the disagreements that exist between both parties. They are fundamentally based on the scope of the royal decree in which the situation in which Juan Carlos remained after ceasing to be Head of State of his own free will and in the meaning of the word “emeritus”.

Choclán stressed that there is no law in Spain that establishes the power of a king who abdicates, to which Del Rosal replies that the abdication of Don Juan Carlos was an “unprecedented” event, so there was effectively no legal provision. , but that “does not mean that their status has not been established in the approved laws.” Then the first defends that since his abdication, his title of king is “honorary” and it’s about an “ordinary citizen” up to the law that conferred jurisdiction on him before the Supreme Court, “like other Spanish public officials”, like ministers, for example. The second highlights the obvious: appearing before the Supreme Court is not typical of an “ordinary citizen.”

Regarding the term emeritus, Larsen’s defense argues that “means that he keeps his honors as a reward for his time of service ” that he lent before abandoning his responsibility, as it appears in the royal decree in which the legal record of his situation was left. The king’s specifies that he be emeritus “It does not mean that you have been legally relieved of an inactive retirement position.“, because until “he retired from public life in June 2019 (when he was 81 years old) he was a very active member of the Spanish royal family. “And he maintained his rank of captain general of the Army.

Provide services

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Del Rosal adds that “the members of the Royal House have different rights and responsibilities “, such as to receive salaries or economic compensation for services rendered; expenses are paid, such as residence, secretary, travel, cars and security personnel, “because provide official services to the monarchy or the state“.

Choclán highlights that on June 7, 2019, he expressed his will to leave public life and his secretary was removed. On March 15, his son, Felipe VI, took away the allocation of the General State Budgets that he received, at the same time that he renounced the inheritance that could correspond to him after knowing that he had money in Switzerland through foundations. Del Rosal bets on the largest: “There have been no changes to Her Majesty’s legal status since 2014 and she is still part of the Royal Family“.