Andorra Court Upholds Disciplinary Probe Against Police Officer

Andorra's Tribunal Superior has upheld the opening of a disciplinary proceeding against a police officer, dismissing the officer's appeal against the government's decision.

The administrative chamber ruled that the resolution initiating the process, issued by the Minister of Justice and Interior in February 2021, constitutes a mere procedural step. As such, it cannot be challenged in administrative courts at this stage. The decision affirms a prior ruling by the Tribunal de Batlles, which had already rejected the officer's claim.

The officer had appealed both the minister's resolution and the government's prior dismissal of his administrative recourse. In his arguments before the Superior court, he contended that the proceeding's initiation was more than a formality. He claimed that precautionary measures— including the withdrawal of his service weapon, radio, identification badge, and access to his office—were imposed immediately, affecting his professional status before the formal process began. He further alleged that the weapon removal was ordered by an authority lacking competence.

However, the tribunal rejected these points, stating they do not alter the legal nature of the challenged act. The precautionary measures, it clarified, stemmed from a separate prior disciplinary case (file 1/2021), implemented on 18 January 2021. Those decisions were not appealed at the time and thus fall outside the scope of this review, which is limited to the legality of the new proceeding's initiation.

The court noted that the officer himself had defined the appeal's focus in his initial claim, targeting only the February resolution and the government's confirmation of it. Citing its own jurisprudence, the chamber reiterated that opening a disciplinary file merely launches the sanctioning procedure without determining the official's responsibility.