The institute of amnesty in the work of the Constituent Courts

In November 2023, a proposal for an organic law “on amnesty for institutional, political and social normalisation in Catalonia” was registered in the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Numerous jurists have carried out analyses on the constitutionality of an amnesty for those responsible for the Catalan independence process, from points of view such as the principle of separation of powers, equality before the law or the prohibition of general pardons. This article tries to bring a new criterion to the debate: that relating to the judgement of the founders of the Constitution concerning the figure of amnesty, which will be analysed by recognising the complementary or relative value of historical methods of interpretation.