Mr. President of Spain
Dr. Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón
When Spain celebrates the 40th Anniversary of its current Constitution this 6th of December, I should say that it seems really unjust to me, that after my wife had provided the required documentation for the application to the Spanish Nationality to conclude positively; that almost 7 years later the Spanish Consul in Havana, Mrs. Laura López García, had considered that they had violated the Article IX of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, written by the North American authorities and signed illegally by the regent queen, and had decided then to correct their alleged error with a Writ of cancellation of the marginal registration of my wife’s option to the Spanish nationality on December 4th, 2015; notified 20 months later while she was on vacation in Cuba, on August 30th, 2017; infringing the articles 14, 15, 18,1, and 24,1 of the Spanish Constitution.
Although my wife was not allowed to return to our home in Las Palmas to face the arisen litigation, on September 15th, 2017 we managed to file an Appeal, with Registration No. 12711 at the Spanish Consulate in Havana, whereby we certified that the impugned Writ is contrary to Law because it was adopted in the context of a file that has been processed with flagrant infraction of the legally established procedure, with violation of my wife's fundamental right to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense, enshrined in article 24,1 of the Spanish Constitution; because when the Writ of cancellation was notified the procedure in which it was adopted had already expired; and because, in any event, the alleged assumption for the cancellation does not concur.
A week later, on September 22nd, we applied for a Precautionary Measure, Registration No. 13163 at the said Consulate, requesting the suspension of the execution of the appealed Writ with the return of my wife’s ID and passport, to face the litigation in Las Palmas without impairment to her constitutional right to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense; and without erosion to my right to honor, to the personal and family intimacy, and to the own image, stipulated in the Article 18,1 of the Spanish Magna Carta.
In absence of a response from the General Direction of Registers and Notaries we submitted the case to the President of the Canary Islands, to the Minister of Justice and on January 29th, 2018, to the Defender of the People of Spain, Mr. Francisco Fernández Marugán, who admitted our complaint to procedure on May 18th, 2018, almost 4 months later. But after more than a year nothing seems to persuade the General Direction of Registers and Notaries to give a legal and humanitarian solution to our family's separation; and the economic, moral and psychological damage resulting from this violation continues increasing.
So, in view of the seriousness of our situation and the delay in its solution, I began to express my concern for Spanish justice in my complaints to the Defender of the People. And on September 10th, 2018 I questioned the summary nature of his investigations, because the Organic Law 3 of April 6th, 1981 provides in its Article 18. 1, that once a complaint is admitted, the Defender of the People will initiate a pertinent summary and informal investigation for the clarification of the alleged circumstances. In all cases he will report of the Substantial content of the request to the proper Authority or Administrative unit so that its boss, in a maximum period of 15 days, provides a written report. This time limit may be extended upon occurrence of circumstances that so advice in the opinion of the Defender of the People. And I cannot understand which circumstances can be more important than the defense of the Constitution and the Fundamental Rights of a whole family, to justify the absence of a response from the Administration at issue. Nevertheless, on October 29th, 2018, the Defender of the People justifies in his answer Register 18106616, that in the case of the Spanish General Consulate in Havana, the lack of personnel and the accumulation of work make impossible the issue of the mandatory reports within the stipulated period. Likewise, the General Direction of Registers and Notaries suffers a generalized backlog in the resolution of submitted files, due to the budget constraints that our country has been compelled to face in recent years, which has prevented the filling of officials’ vacant jobs.
However, I cannot entirely agree with this justification, because I have already insisted to the Defender of the People that if the General Direction of Registers and Notaries knows beforehand that all their resolutions suffer a delay from 18 to 24 months, why haven’t they suspended the implementation of the appealed Writ, with return of my wife’s ID and Passport to be able to come back home to Las Palmas, as we demanded in our request of Precautionary Measure on September 22nd, 2017?
Does the General Direction of Registers and Notaries violate my wife's fundamental right, enshrined in Article 24,1 of the Constitution, when preventing her return to Las Palmas, to be able to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense, for lack of personnel and the accumulation of work?
Is it for lack of personnel and the accumulation of work that the General Direction of Registers and Notaries violates my right to honor, to personal and family privacy, and to the own image, embodied in Article 18, 1 of the Spanish Magna Carta, when they break my marriage of 35 years, sanctioning me to a humiliating forced separation when I most need my wife at my 64 years of age?
I have always heard to say: “The administration of Justice is the foundation of a good Government”; and I admit that Spain is a great country, but I perceive that something is not working right in my complaint's resolution.
Mr. President of Spain, I plead for your mediation with an eye to achieve the immediate return of my wife’s ID and Spanish passport, to achieve our family reunification and to celebrate this Christmas together, in peace, love and happiness.
Dr. Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón
When Spain celebrates the 40th Anniversary of its current Constitution this 6th of December, I should say that it seems really unjust to me, that after my wife had provided the required documentation for the application to the Spanish Nationality to conclude positively; that almost 7 years later the Spanish Consul in Havana, Mrs. Laura López García, had considered that they had violated the Article IX of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, written by the North American authorities and signed illegally by the regent queen, and had decided then to correct their alleged error with a Writ of cancellation of the marginal registration of my wife’s option to the Spanish nationality on December 4th, 2015; notified 20 months later while she was on vacation in Cuba, on August 30th, 2017; infringing the articles 14, 15, 18,1, and 24,1 of the Spanish Constitution.
Although my wife was not allowed to return to our home in Las Palmas to face the arisen litigation, on September 15th, 2017 we managed to file an Appeal, with Registration No. 12711 at the Spanish Consulate in Havana, whereby we certified that the impugned Writ is contrary to Law because it was adopted in the context of a file that has been processed with flagrant infraction of the legally established procedure, with violation of my wife's fundamental right to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense, enshrined in article 24,1 of the Spanish Constitution; because when the Writ of cancellation was notified the procedure in which it was adopted had already expired; and because, in any event, the alleged assumption for the cancellation does not concur.
A week later, on September 22nd, we applied for a Precautionary Measure, Registration No. 13163 at the said Consulate, requesting the suspension of the execution of the appealed Writ with the return of my wife’s ID and passport, to face the litigation in Las Palmas without impairment to her constitutional right to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense; and without erosion to my right to honor, to the personal and family intimacy, and to the own image, stipulated in the Article 18,1 of the Spanish Magna Carta.
In absence of a response from the General Direction of Registers and Notaries we submitted the case to the President of the Canary Islands, to the Minister of Justice and on January 29th, 2018, to the Defender of the People of Spain, Mr. Francisco Fernández Marugán, who admitted our complaint to procedure on May 18th, 2018, almost 4 months later. But after more than a year nothing seems to persuade the General Direction of Registers and Notaries to give a legal and humanitarian solution to our family's separation; and the economic, moral and psychological damage resulting from this violation continues increasing.
So, in view of the seriousness of our situation and the delay in its solution, I began to express my concern for Spanish justice in my complaints to the Defender of the People. And on September 10th, 2018 I questioned the summary nature of his investigations, because the Organic Law 3 of April 6th, 1981 provides in its Article 18. 1, that once a complaint is admitted, the Defender of the People will initiate a pertinent summary and informal investigation for the clarification of the alleged circumstances. In all cases he will report of the Substantial content of the request to the proper Authority or Administrative unit so that its boss, in a maximum period of 15 days, provides a written report. This time limit may be extended upon occurrence of circumstances that so advice in the opinion of the Defender of the People. And I cannot understand which circumstances can be more important than the defense of the Constitution and the Fundamental Rights of a whole family, to justify the absence of a response from the Administration at issue. Nevertheless, on October 29th, 2018, the Defender of the People justifies in his answer Register 18106616, that in the case of the Spanish General Consulate in Havana, the lack of personnel and the accumulation of work make impossible the issue of the mandatory reports within the stipulated period. Likewise, the General Direction of Registers and Notaries suffers a generalized backlog in the resolution of submitted files, due to the budget constraints that our country has been compelled to face in recent years, which has prevented the filling of officials’ vacant jobs.
However, I cannot entirely agree with this justification, because I have already insisted to the Defender of the People that if the General Direction of Registers and Notaries knows beforehand that all their resolutions suffer a delay from 18 to 24 months, why haven’t they suspended the implementation of the appealed Writ, with return of my wife’s ID and Passport to be able to come back home to Las Palmas, as we demanded in our request of Precautionary Measure on September 22nd, 2017?
Does the General Direction of Registers and Notaries violate my wife's fundamental right, enshrined in Article 24,1 of the Constitution, when preventing her return to Las Palmas, to be able to obtain an effective judicial protection and in no case suffer a lack of defense, for lack of personnel and the accumulation of work?
Is it for lack of personnel and the accumulation of work that the General Direction of Registers and Notaries violates my right to honor, to personal and family privacy, and to the own image, embodied in Article 18, 1 of the Spanish Magna Carta, when they break my marriage of 35 years, sanctioning me to a humiliating forced separation when I most need my wife at my 64 years of age?
I have always heard to say: “The administration of Justice is the foundation of a good Government”; and I admit that Spain is a great country, but I perceive that something is not working right in my complaint's resolution.
Mr. President of Spain, I plead for your mediation with an eye to achieve the immediate return of my wife’s ID and Spanish passport, to achieve our family reunification and to celebrate this Christmas together, in peace, love and happiness.
