The Second Chamber of Spain's Supreme Court, headed by judge Manuel Marchena, has decided that Oriol Junqueras cannot leave custody to take his seat as an MEP and that October's sentence removes him from office. This comes after a decision, late last year, from the Court of Justice of the European Union that says that, contrary to the position of Spain's Central Electoral Commission, Junqueras did become an MEP in May's election and hence enjoyed immunity.

Earlier this week, in a statement, the European Parliament said that "at the "plenary sitting of 13 January 2020, the European Parliament will take note of the election" as MEPs of Junqueras, as well as Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín. Today's ruling means the leader of ERC will not be able to attend the sitting in Strasbourg.

This comes the same day that a separate chamber of the court rejected an appeal for cautionary measures to suspend the Electoral Commission's decision to revoke his status as an MEP.

Whilst the Spanish judges accept the European Court's ruling, and say it will apply in future cases, they argue that it is no longer applicable. They concede he should have been released on his election, but argue that now he has a final sentence in his case which includes his disbarring from public office, that no longer has to take place. They also argue that, at this point, they do not have to write to the European Parliament for permission to put him on trial as an MEP.