Josep Pagès i Massó (born 28 June 1972) is a Catalan academic, lawyer, politician and a member of the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
Congress has ...
of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
Early life
Pagès was born on 28 June 1972 in
Sant Celoni
Sant Celoni () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Tordera river between the ranges of Montseny and Montnegre. The m ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
. He has a degree in law, political science and sociology from the
Autonomous University of Barcelona
The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.
, the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...
(UAB). He has a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
.
Career
Pagès was a lawyer for the
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...
, head of legal for Cardedeu Municipal Council's Technical Services department and secretary of the Territorial Commission of Urbanism of Terres de l'Ebre and Tarragona. He is a professor of constitutional law at UAB. He was a lawyer for Barcelona City Council's
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...
department and secretary of the Prague Lawyers Collective. He was one of the signatories of the May 2017 Manifesto of Jurists in which 600
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
s argued that a referendum on Catalan
self-determination
Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage.
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
was constitutional.
Pagès was a member of the Electoral Union of Catalonia (Sindicatura Electoral de Catalunya), a five-member board established by the
Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...
to monitor the
2017 Catalan independence referendum
An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and called by the Generalitat de Catalun ...
. The Spanish authorities, who considered the referendum to be illegal, warned the board to step down and the
Constitutional Court of Spain
The Constitutional Court () is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spain. It is defined in Part I ...
threatened to fine each member €12,000 for each day they stayed in post. The board stepped down on 26 September 2017, a week before the referendum. Nevertheless, Pagès and the other four members of the board (Marta Alsina, Marc Marsal, Jordi Matas and Tània Vergé) were charged with disobedience and usurpation of public office for their role in the independence referendum and are currently awaiting trial. The public prosecutor has requested a sentence of two years and nine months in prison for the five defendants.
At the 2015 local elections Pagès was placed 17th on the
Convergence and Union
Convergence and Union (, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic ...
(CiU)
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
's list of candidates in Sant Celoni but the alliance only managed to win seven seats in the municipality and as a result he failed to get elected. At the April 2019 general election Pagès was placed seventh on the Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance's list of candidates in the
Province of Barcelona
Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is . At the November 2019 general election he was placed sixth on the JuntsxCat electoral alliance's list of candidates in the Province of Barcelona but the alliance only managed to win four seats in the province and as a result he failed to get elected. However, in March 2021, he was appointed to the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
Congress has ...
following the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...