The episode starring the Vox deputy José María Sánchez García, expelled from the Plenary Session of Congress this Tuesday after confronting the Presidency of the Chamber and a lawyer from the Bureau, has reopened the debate on the limits of parliamentary behavior and the disciplinary sanctions provided for in the Institution's Regulations.
The intervention of the first vice-president of Congress, Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis, who at that moment was directing the session, occurred after the deputy had been warned on several occasions for disrupting the order of the debate. Finally, after three calls to order, his immediate expulsion from the chamber was decreed.
What does the Regulation of the Congress say?
The Reglamento del Congreso de los Diputados clearly establishes the framework that allows adopting this type of decisions. In its article 103, the text regulates the discipline during sessions and contemplates that deputies can be called to order when they utter offensive expressions, interrupt the debate or alter the normal functioning of the Pleno. In that same precept it is established that, after a third warning in the same session, the Presidency is empowered to order the immediate expulsion of the deputy.
Article 103.
The members of the Chamber and those who are speaking shall be called to order:
1.When they utter words or express offensive concepts to the decorum of the Chamber and its members, of the State Institutions or of any other person or entity.
2.When in their speeches they fail to comply with what is established for the proper conduct of the deliberations.
3.When with interruptions or in any other way they alter the order of the sessions.
4.When, the floor having been withdrawn, they attempt to continue making use of it
This power is reinforced in article 104, which regulates the consequences of serious alterations of order in the parliamentary precinct. The text indicates that when a deputy disobeys the requirements of the Presidency or persists in their conduct after having been called to order, they may be expelled from the session hall, losing their right to intervene and vote during the rest of the parliamentary day.
Article 104.
1. To the member of the Chamber or intervening party who has been called to order three times in the same session, warned the second time of the consequences of a third call, his/her right to speak will be withdrawn, if applicable, and the Presidency, without debate, may impose on him/her the sanction of not attending the rest of the session.
2. If the sanctioned deputy does not heed the request to leave the session hall, the Presidency will adopt the measures it deems pertinent to make the expulsion effective.
3. When the case provided for in point 1 of the previous article occurs, the Presidency will require the member of the Chamber or intervening party to withdraw the offenses uttered and will order that they not be recorded in the «Diario de Sesiones». The refusal of this requirement may lead to successive calls to order, with the effects provided for in the preceding paragraphs of this article.
How long can be expelled?
Furthermore, the Regulation contemplates even more serious cases in its artículo 106, where it is foreseen that any conduct that constitutes a "serious disorder" within the parliamentary precinct may entail immediate expulsion, even if the person responsible is a member of the Chamber. In these cases, if it is a deputy, the Presidency may also agree to their temporary suspension from office for a maximum of one month, without prejudice to the Bureau raising the situation to the Plenary to assess additional sanctions.
In this context, the expulsion of Sánchez García falls within the ordinary mechanisms of parliamentary discipline and does not in any case constitute a definitive sanction nor the loss of the seat. The Regulation itself distinguishes between immediate measures of order —such as expulsion from the Plenary— and broader sanctions, which require a subsequent decision by the Bureau or even the Plenary of the Chamber.
Ten of the parties with representation in the Congreso de los Diputados, all except PP, Vox and UPN, have signed this Wednesday an institutional declaration of condemnation following the incident. However, the text has not been read in the Chamber as the necessary unanimity was not reached, after the three right-wing formations rejected its inclusion in the parliamentary session.
From there, the margin to extend the sanction exists, but it is not discretionary. The Regulation itself refers to article 101, which allows the Bureau of Congress to elevate the case to the Plenary to agree on an additional temporary suspension, always for disciplinary reasons and by formal decision of the Chamber. That suspension can be extended beyond the initial sanction, although always within a guaranteeing and reasoned procedure.
In practice, this means that expulsion from the Plenary cannot automatically become an indefinite sanction by unilateral decision, but it can escalate to a longer suspension if the Bureau proposes it and the Plenary approves it, especially if the conduct is considered to have been repeated or of special gravity.