Framing the Court: Political Reactions to the Ruling on the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Catalan Parliament

Abstract

This article analyses the reactions by political actors to the ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court on the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Catalan Parliament. It is suggested that political framings of the ruling can be classified into the legalist, attitudinal and institutional academic models of judicial behaviour. As will be shown, these models have a normative dimension, with implications for the ideal of the Rule of Law. These implications are skilfully captured and exploited by political actors as part of a wider battle for the framing of the ruling. The Rule of Law thus becomes politicised as a result of the tension around the judicialisation of the so-called Catalan 'sovereignist process'.