# Spanish Supreme Court voids private university law

8 October 2026 at 18:21

> Spain's Supreme Court has struck down a royal decree on private universities after the government failed to justify an emergency procedure.

[Spain's Supreme Court](<https://spainnews.co.uk/entity/supreme-court-spain-q19746>) has invalidated a royal decree issued by [Pedro Sánchez](<https://spainnews.co.uk/entity/pedro-sanchez-q6070218>)'s government concerning the creation and authorisation of private universities. The Administrative Litigation Chamber ruled the regulation void due to a significant formal defect.

The ruling follows appeals from the Balearic Islands' education department, the Community of Madrid, [CEU San Pablo University](<https://spainnews.co.uk/entity/universidad-ceu-san-pablo-q32821>), and **Hespérides University**. The court found the [Council of Ministers](<https://spainnews.co.uk/entity/council-of-ministers-spain-q3058576>) failed to justify using an emergency procedure for the decree.

By bypassing the standard legislative process, the government omitted the mandatory prior public consultation. The Supreme Court classified this procedural failure as a nullity of full right, effectively striking down the accelerated educational regulation.


[#Spain](<https://spainnews.co.uk/hashtag/spain>) [#SupremeCourt](<https://spainnews.co.uk/hashtag/supremecourt>) #HigherEducation [#PedroSanchez](<https://spainnews.co.uk/hashtag/pedrosanchez>) #LegalRuling

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