Parliament of Catalonia: Difference between revisions

Parliament of Catalonia Parlament de Catalunya
11th Legislature
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
President	Carme Forcadell i Lluís, (JxSí) since October 26, 2015
Vice Presidents	Lluís Corominas i Díaz (JxSí) José María Espejo-Saavedra Conesa (Ciutadans) since October 26, 2015
Secretaries	Anna Simó i Castelló (JxSÍ) David Pérez Ibáñez (PSC) Joan Josep Nuet i Pujals (CSQP) Ramona Barrufet i Santacana (JxSÍ) since October 26, 2015
Structure
Seats	135
Political groups	Government (64):   JxSí (62)   CUP (2) Confidence and supply (8):   CUP (8) Opposition (63):   C's (25)   PSC-PSOE (16)   CSQP (11)   PPC (11)
Committees	22 Institutional Affairs Economy, Finances and Budgets Enterprise and Employment Justice Home Affairs Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Environment Education and Universities Country Planning and Sustainability Social Welfare, Family and Immigration Culture and Language Health Procedure Member's Rules Petitions Secret Affairs Ombudsman Public Audit Control of the Catalan Corporation of Public Media People's Equality Youth Foreign Affairs and European Union Cooperation and Solidarity
Elections
Voting system	Party-list proportional representation
Last election	September 27, 2015
Next election	On or before November 11, 2019
Meeting place
Palau del Parlament de Catalunya, Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona
Website
www.parlament.cat

Politics of Catalonia
Statute and laws Statute of Autonomy 1932 1979 2006 Constitutions (13-18th c.) Civil Code
Generalitat President (list) Salvador Illa (PSC)
Executive Executive Council President (list): Salvador Illa (PSC) Cabinet International relations
Legislature Parliament (15th) President: Josep Rull (Junts)
Judiciary High Court of Justice President: Jesús María Barrientos Council of Statutarian Pledges Ombudsman Syndicate of Accounts Audiovisual Council
Public order Ministry of Justice (list) Ministry of Home Affairs (list) Police of Catalonia
Political parties Parliamentary parties PSC Junts ERC PPC Vox Comuns CUP AC
Elections Parliamentary elections 1932 1980 1984 1988 1992 1995 1999 2003 2006 2010 2012 2015 2017 2021 2024 Referendums 1931 1979 2006 2009–11 2014 2017
Subdivisions Regional Vegueries Unique territorial entity (Val d'Aran) Counties Provinces Local Metropolitan area Terçons Municipalities
Other countries
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The Parliament of Catalonia (Catalan: Parlament de Catalunya, IPA: [pərɫəˈmen də kətəˈɫuɲə]) is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia (Spain). It is formed by 135 members ("diputats"), who are elected every four years or after extraordinary dissolution, chosen by universal suffrage in lists with four constituencies, the Catalan provinces. The Parliament building is located in Ciutadella Park.

The most recent parliamentary elections were held on 27 September 2015.

The first representative and legislative bodies in Catalonia were the Peace and Truce of God Assemblies (assemblees de pau i treva), of which the earliest record dates from 1027. These were originally ad hoc, local meetings convened by the Church (Oliba, Bishop of Vic, who died in 1046, was a notable instigator) but progressively became subsumed into the court of the Counts of Barcelona. The first Catalan legal code, the Usatges de Barcelona, was promulgated by Count Ramon Berenguer I based on the decisions of these assemblies.

Although the Counts of Barcelona, also Kings of Aragon from 1137, had greatly extended the territory under their control, their financial and military power was quite limited, partly because of their former status as vassals of the Carolingian dynasty. Their personal resources were particularly insufficient in periods of economic crisis or military expansion, of which they were many from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. The need to secure troops and revenue led to the steady expansion of the royal court and a formalisation of its procedures. It came to be referred to as the Cort General de Catalunya or Corts catalanes (Catalan Courts), and was endowed with formal procedures, effectively a written constitution, by King Peter III of Aragon in 1283.

The Corts Catalanes were composed of Three Estates (Tres Braços), representing the Church, the feudal nobles and the citizens of Royal towns such as Barcelona or Girona. Inhabitants of feudal towns (such as Cardona) were not represented, except by their overlords. The main function of the Corts was legislative, either in approving laws proposed by the King (Constitucions) or at their own initiative (capítols de cort). Although the Corts met at irregular intervals (as often as the Crown needed to find new resources), it also formally approved the acts of the King between their sessions (known as pragmàtiques) and, from 1359, established a permanent delegation to oversee the Crown (forerunner of the Generalitat de Catalunya). The Catalan Courts were abolished by the Nueva Planta decrees in 1715 after Catalonia's defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession.

There were several attempts in the early 20th century to institute an autonomous system of representation for Catalonia. The Commonwealth of Catalonia (1914–25) was an assembly without legislative powers of the provincial delegations of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, abolished by the Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1925. After an abortive declaration of a Catalan Republic in April 1931, a separate Parliament of Catalonia was established under the first Statute of Autonomy approved by the new Spanish Republic, and was elected on 20 November 1932. This Parliament developed an advanced social and democratic laws in different areas (civil right, culture, health...), but it was suspended between 1934 and 1936, and abolished by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in 1938. The first legislature of the current Parliament of Catalonia was elected in 1980.

• To elect the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
• To pass the Catalan legislation in the business of its competence.
• To pass the Budget of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.
• To control the action of the Government of Catalonia and the autonomous agencies, public companies and all other bodies answerable to it.

• "Parlament de Catalunya – Història" (in Catalan). Retrieved January 5, 2007.

• Official website (multilingual, mostly in Catalan)

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