Spain’s top court has handed down a ruling preventing the upper house of Parliament from debating and voting on an amendment to the country's penal code — an unprecedented interference in the legislature that foreshadows potential political turmoil for the leftist coalition government heading into election year.
The Constitutional Court ended a nine-hour debate Monday by accepting an appeal by the main right-wing opposition Popular Party to halt the passage through Parliament of a reform on how judges are elected to certain judicial bodies — including the Constitutional Court itself.
