The reinforcements of the Supreme Court to face the 25 vacancies it suffers as a result of the lack of renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) have focused the meeting held this Monday by the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, and the Government Chamber of the high court. During the meeting, Bolaños announced to the Supreme Court magistrates the renewal for one year, from June 2024 to June 2025, of the 35 reinforcement lawyers, who make up for the lack of magistrates. For their part, the leadership of the court (composed of the five presidents of the chamber and five other magistrates chosen by their colleagues), have asked the head of Justice that this reinforcement plan be maintained once the Council is unblocked because the incorporation of new magistrates will not make the accumulation of cases that has occurred in recent years disappear.
The minister's meeting with the Government Room is part of the usual round that all Justice heads usually maintain when they take office. But in this case, it comes preceded by the attacks launched at different judges from the tribunes of Congress and the Senate, which have led Bolaños to repeatedly come out in defense of the judges; and the meeting has also been set in the midst of negotiations between the PSOE and the PP – with the mediation of the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders – to renew the CGPJ, whose mandate expired five years ago. The talks are stalled, but the minister expressed confidence this Monday, upon leaving the Supreme Court, that they will bear fruit. This renewal is vital for the Supreme Court, because it would allow the CGPJ to return the power to appoint discretionary positions, which would allow the new governing body of judges to cover the 25 vacancies that the court already has and that are affecting its operation.
Government sources indicated, at the end of the meeting, that the Executive's commitment to maintain the reinforcement plan until 2025 means addressing “the main demand raised by the judges” of the Supreme Court. The 37 lawyers who are currently on secondment will also be renewed for the same period. “The Government thus wants to show its commitment to the proper functioning of Justice in an exceptional situation that it hopes to resolve soon in the negotiations to renew the CGPJ with the mediation of the European Commission and that has led the Public Justice Service to an extreme situation. ”, these sources point out.
The minister has also announced to the Government Chamber that the Ministry building located on Génova Street, which is being renovated and the works are scheduled to be completed in 2025-2026, will be used for the Technical Office of the Court. “Institutional respect, cordiality and willingness to collaborate have been evident in this meeting, in which the Government's support for our High Court has been evident. The minister has reiterated his full support for the judiciary in the face of any politically motivated attack, both from pro-independence circles and from the Popular Party or Vox. In this sense, Bolaños has once again expressed his commitment to defend the good name of Spanish judges and magistrates against any attempt at interference,” state government sources.
These attacks on the judges and, above all, the reaction they have received from the Government, have been evaluated during the meeting between Bolaños and the leadership of the Supreme Court, say sources present at the meeting. According to these sources, the president of the Criminal Chamber, Manuel Marchena, has thanked the minister for all the times that he has come out in defense of the judges, but has reproached him for the fact that there have also been some “silences.” Marchena was referring to the day on which Junts spokesperson in Congress Miriam Nogueras called the president of the Criminal Chamber, Manuel Marchena, and several judges of the Supreme Court, “indecent,” including Carlos Lesmes (former president of the high court and the Council General of the Judiciary) and Pablo Llarena (instructor of the case of the processes), and assured that they should be “fired and tried.” Bolaños, according to several sources consulted, explained to Marchena that that day he was in the Senate, where he did come out in defense of the judges against the reproaches launched by the Junts senator Josep Lluís Cleries, who accused them of starting a “battle” politics” to “torpedo” the amnesty law. The minister has made the magistrates of the Government Chamber see that his defense of the judiciary has become so common that, sometimes, it no longer has an impact in the media.
According to the sources consulted, other issues that supposedly currently strain relations between the Judiciary and the Executive, such as the proposed amnesty law or the debate on the lawfare, have not even been cited throughout the meeting, sources consulted say. The meeting focused on operational issues, especially on the reinforcements of the Supreme Court. The Government has granted the extension in one year requested by the high court, which has 31.25% of its staff vacant (25 of 79 positions). According to the data provided this Monday by the Supreme Court, among its five chambers there were 46,658 matters pending resolution as of January 1, 2023, which means that the pending matters have increased by more than 3,000 in the last year (there were 43,620 last year). January 1, 2023).
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