Cèsar Puig i Casañas (born 1956) is a Spanish politician, jurist and academic. Between 30 June 15 and 27 October 2017 was the Secretary-General of the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement.
In some states, the ...
of the
Catalan regional government.
Biography and career
He was born in
Valls
Valls () is a city and municipality in the Camp de Tarragona region in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital of the comarca of Alt Camp. In 2014, it had a population of 24,570.
Valls is known for its calçots – a type of scallion or green onio ...
, province of Tarragona, and graduated in law from the
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
; since 1987 he has been a civil servant of the Superior Administration Body of the Generalitat and has been a civil servant of the Generalitat's Board of Directors since 1999. He has held various positions in the public administration over the years. Between 1989 and 1999 he was the head of the Territorial Service of Defense and Legal Advice in
Tarragona Province
Tarragona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Castellón, Teruel, Zaragoza, Lleida and Barcelona and by the Mediterranean Sea.
The province's po ...
, between 2000 and 2004 Director of the Plan of Security of the Chemical Industry of Tarragona same time that held the position of Delegate of the Government in Tarragona.
In 2011, he returned to the Generalitat as Director of Territorial Services of the Department of Territory and Sustainability until 2015, when the
Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia (; , UDC), frequently shortened as Union (; ), was a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in the Catalonia region of Spain existing between 1931 and 2017. Together with Democratic Convergence of C ...
left the government, he became the General Secretary of the Interior.
In the academic field, he has been a professor at the
Public Administration School of Catalonia from 1990 to 2005, professor at the School of Legal Practice of the Association of Lawyers of Tarragona between 1992 and 2009, Professor of master's degree in Management and Local Law from
EAPC,
UAB and
URV between 2003 and 2015.
Catalonia independence crisis and trial
After the
Catalan declaration of independence
The Catalan declaration of independence ('')'' was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017. While the text proclaims the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the establishment of an independent Catalan ...
on 27 October 2017, on 28 October 2017 was dismissed amid the
application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. On 28 February 2018, was charged by Judge
Carmen Lamela for an alleged crime of sedition for his possible connection with the alleged inaction of the members of the people in the
referendum on self-determination of October 1 in Catalonia. On 5 May 2018 he was prosecuted for the same offense of sedition and another crime of criminal organization.
On 3 November 2018 the
State Attorney General
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...
accused him of rebellion in his writing of the
trial of Catalonia independence leaders
The trial of Catalonia independence leaders, legally named and popularly known as the , was an oral trial that began on 12 February 2019 in the Supreme Court of Spain. The Legal case, case was tried by seven judges and was chaired by judge Manu ...
, asking for 11 years in prison and disqualification.
In December 2018, he was appointed General Director of Consultative Services and Legal Coordination of the Legal Office of the Generalitat de Catalunya, replacing Maria Dolors Feliu i Torrent, who had been in charge since 2011.
Direcció General de Serveis Consultius i Coordinació Jurídica
See also
* 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puig, Cesar
1956 births
Living people
Academics from Catalonia
Academic staff of the University of Rovira i Virgili
Lawyers from Catalonia
Politicians from Catalonia
Academic staff of the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona alumni
20th-century Spanish lawyers
People from Valls
Spanish politicians convicted of crimes