The Notarial Association of Catalonia awards Miquel Roca Junyent with the Puig Salellas Award
Barcelona, 29 November 2024. The Notarial Association of Catalonia has awarded the Puig Salellas Prize to the renowned jurist Miquel Roca Junyent, a key figure in the drafting of the 1978 Spanish Constitution and the 1979 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. This award, the institution's most prestigious, recognises his outstanding career in the field of law.
Now in its sixteenth year, the Puig Salellas Prize has reaffirmed its aim of rewarding those who have demonstrated outstanding role in the study, research, creation, teaching or application of law in Catalonia.
The ceremony, held at the headquarters of the Notarial Association of Catalonia, began with a minute's silence in solidarity with the victims and those affected by the DANA. Chaired by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, the event was attended by prominent figures from the political, legal and notarial spheres.
During his speech, Salvador Illa stood out the contribution of Miquel Roca Junyent to the constitutional and autonomic framework: ‘The Spanish Constitution cannot be understood without the spirit of concord and the intelligence to bring together points of view, democratic needs and consensus that Miquel Roca Roca was able to capture in its pages. Nor can we understand the Statute of Autonomy, which has given Catalonia the most self-government, the most progress and the greatest social welfare in our history, without Miquel Roca's vision of the country’.
The Dean of the Notarial Association of Catalonia, José Alberto Marín, praised the award winner's career, highlighting his style of practising law based on dialogue and consensus: ‘Setting the red lines of a negotiation and superimposing them on those of the other party in order to find a common space in which to initiate dialogue is the most outstanding of his many virtues. His example must serve all jurists to progress along this path’.
For his part, Joan Carles Ollé Favaró, former dean of the Notarial Association, gave a glossa of the figure of the award winner, highlighting his contribution to constitutional and civil law, as well as his role as a lawyer and professor: ‘The Puig Salellas prize has been awarded to him for the merit of his very relevant legal career, especially for his constitutionalist facet and his contribution to the Statute of Autonomy.’
On receiving the award, Miquel Roca Junyent expressed his gratitude and paid tribute to Josep María Puig Salellas, the figure after whom the award is named: ‘For me, Josep María Puig Salellas was a point of reference in the Catalan legal world, as well as a friend and colleague. To receive an award that bears his name is very moving and allows me to remember all that we owe to his tenacity and legal quality’.
The Secretary of State for Justice, Manuel Olmedo, stressed the importance of dialogue and peace as tools for progress as a society.
The event was attended by members of the Constitutional Court, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Director General of Legal Security and Public Faith, Ester Pérez, as well as representatives of the national and regional political and legal spheres, including former presidents of the Generalitat and members of the Catalan Parliament.
