Use and political abuse of Technology. Too much parliamentary Appeals for protection regarding telematic vote and finally the reform of the Catalonia’s Standing Order

Abstract

The present century amid the technological revolution has also meant important changes in the functioning of our parliament. The classic principle recognised in our constitutional text of the vote of deputies and senators as personal and non-delegable has been the subject of a long regulatory and jurisprudential development by our TC. Scenarios such as the sovereignty process in Catalonia, the hyper fragmentation and polarisation of parliamentary life, the complexity and super specialisation of the activity of the chambers, the pandemic, etc., have all occurred. In all of them, parliamentary activity and its procedures have had to be readapted. But also, and in parallel, technology has been a tool used for political interests. The exercise of voting by telematic procedures has been used in a self-interested way by some parliamentary groups, trying to strain certain existing normative regulations. And this has been done, moreover, disregarding and failing to comply with clear and consolidated jurisprudence of the TC in this respect. Hence, in the last four years, too many parliamentary appeals have been filed on this issue, once again transferring to our highest interpreter ‘political’ issues covered with procedural nuances and forced interpretations. Technology, as a tool at the service of parliamentary activity, should not, in our opinion, have political content. In its jurisprudence, the TC must prevent this from happening, all in the spirit of maintaining a stable and coherent interpretation with a certain degree of stability over time.

Summary: I. INTRODUCTION. II. THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT, THE JUDGMENT OF TC 86/2024, OF 3 JUNE, AGAIN A PARLIAMENTARY AMPARO OF ‘GENERAL POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES.’ a) the context, b) the recurring issue of telematic voting but in a different context, c) the issue of voting in person, the argument of the physical space ‘seat of sovereignty’, d) the issue of special constitutional significance in parliamentary appeals, the constant dizziness of ‘general political consequences’, e) circumventing the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court with watermarks, f) there is no requirement for disobedience, the incident is not admissible (art. 92 LOTC) and the legislature starts up. III. THE REFORM OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE PARLIAMENT OF CATALONIA (RPC). REFORM OF ART. 95 AND ITS NEW ART. 98 bis. a) The contents of the Reform; b) Opinion 2/2024, of 23 July, of the Council for Statutory Guarantees (DCGE). IV. A NEW DEVELOPMENT IN CASE LAW, A TELEMATIC VOTE ERRONEOUS and RELEVANT TO THE OUTCOME. IV. FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE FRUSTRATION and MELANCHOLY USE AND ABUSE OF TECHNOLOGY.