On 28 October 2017, Catalonia unilaterally declared its independence. The Senate voted on the application of Article 155 of the Constitution and it was ratified by the Government in an extraordinary Council of Ministers.
As we saw in the post “ What is Article 155 of the Constitution? ”, the measures of this precept affect the Catalan Government, Parliament and Administration and among them is the spam database dismissal of the President of the Generalitat, the Vice President and the Councillors who make up the Governing Council of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
What happens if they do not cease their functions?
We would be dealing with a crime of usurpation of functions under article 402 of the Penal Code. The offense consists of the exercise of acts proper to an authority or official, lacking the precise conditions for their exercise. It includes prison sentences of one to three years.
It falls within the crimes of forgery .
Article 402 CP : Anyone who illegally performs acts proper to an authority or public official, attributing himself an official character, will be punished with a prison sentence of one to three years.
To apply this crime , two requirements are required . The first of them refers to the exercise , that is, that the person performs acts proper to an authority or public official. Example: someone presents himself as a police officer and performs his functions, such as an arrest.
That he or she has official status to carry out those acts that are proper to a public official or authority.
Characteristics
Crime of mere activity, does not require harmful results.
It involves an alteration of the truth, that is, an appearance is created.
That appearance must produce transcendental damage or harm.
The typical action of this crime consists of the exercise of acts proper to an authority or official. It can only be committed by persons who do not participate in the exercise of the usurped public functions or when they perform their duties outside the place where they have jurisdiction or when they have ceased to exercise them .