The Legal Advisory Commission and Catalan Autonomy under the Second Republic: the Creation of the Political and Institutional System of Self-Government

This article defends the thesis that under the Second Republic, the Legal Advisory Commission (Commissió Jurídica Assessora) had a key role in the creation and shaping of the political and institutional system of self-government in Catalunya. To demonstrate this thesis, the paper analyzes draft bills prepared during this period by the Legal Advisory Commission: the Constitution or Internal Statute, the Municipal Act, the Court of Cassation of Catalonia and the administrative remedies and appeals to administrative courts. The analysis of these draft bills highlights how the institutions of self-government were forged during this period, how the foundations of democracy and local autonomy were laid, how an autochthonous administrative court system was created. The draft bill on administrative remedies and appeals to administrative courts would be a significant albeit forgotten precedent for the state laws on administrative procedure and the administrative court system. In a word, the current Catalan political and institutional system could not be understood without taking into account the background of the Catalan Government (Generalitat) under the Republic which, capitalizing on the historical legitimacy of medieval institutions, was able to lay the foundation for a system that was adapted to the needs of contemporary society