Reflections on the Crown Inmunity under The Rule of Law

Abstract

Crown immunity is a basic principle of the Spanish Constitution. It makes up the legal status of the Sovereign, historically as well as contemporarily, in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. This interpretation has found much endorsement in the legal scholarship and has also recently had the support of Spain’s Constitutional Court, which, in SSTTC 98/2019 and 111/2019, understood the immunity of the King to be absolute, a shield to his office of Head of State, under the Spanish Constitution, both highest representative of the State and embodiment of its continuity. Despite the weight of tradition, the Monarchy has stood the test of time precisely because it has adapted to the times. Ultimately, though, the decision whether to maintain or narrow the scope of Crown immunity is political. And one that would require an amendment to Article 56.3 of the Spanish Constitution through the special procedures set out in Article 168 also of the Spanish Constitution.