Spanish justice is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the blockade of the two main parties -PSOE and PP- to the complete renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary. The highest governing body of the Magistracy is on its way to serving four years – it will do so in December – in an interim situation. An unknown anomaly in its 42 years of operation and to which is now added the fracture in the Council itself by having to appoint two magistrates of the Constitutional Court by the will of the Government.
The CGPJ has 20 members…
and a president who is also president
Supreme Court
12 are judges or magistrates…
and 8 are lawyers or jurists
The CGPJ has 20 members…
and a president who is also president
Supreme Court
12 are judges or magistrates…
and 8 are lawyers or jurists
The CGPJ has 20 members…
and a president who is also president
Supreme Court
12 are judges or magistrates…
and 8 are lawyers or jurists
The CGPJ has 20 members…
and a president who is also president
Supreme Court
12 are judges or magistrates…
and 8 are lawyers or jurists
Among its functions is the appointment of judges and jurisdictional positions, the inspection of the functioning of the courts or tribunals and the requirement of disciplinary responsibility to its members. Their term of office is five years and the law establishes that they must be chosen from among jurists of “recognized competence” by a
three-fifths qualified majority of the Congress and the Senate.
The institutional crisis arises when the lack of the obligatory agreement between the PSOE and the PP blocks the renewal of the entire Council.
In Congress, the votes of 210 deputies
Votes are required in the Senate
of 159 senators
In Congress, the votes of 210 deputies
Votes are required in the Senate
of 159 senators
In Congress, the votes of 210 deputies
Votes are required in the Senate
of 159 senators
In Congress, the votes of 210 deputies
Votes are required in the Senate
of 159 senators
It is a paralysis that began in December 2018 and that today is on its way to four years.
At the beginning of 2021, PSOE and United We Can, partners in the Government, promoted a reform to prevent the CGPJ from making appointments while it continues in an interim situation.
Thus, with the body in office and with the power to elect positions frozen,
there are already 64 vacancies in the dome of the Judiciary that are pending coverage.
Missing 29 places in regional superior courts (of them,
7 presidencies)
The head of the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court
20 presidencies of rooms in Provincial Courts
14 magistrates in the Supreme Court
Missing 29 places in regional superior courts (of them,
7 presidencies)
The head of the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court
20 presidencies of rooms in Provincial Courts
14 magistrates in the Supreme Court
The head of the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court
Missing 29 places in regional superior courts (of them,
7 presidencies)
20 presidencies of rooms in Provincial Courts
14 magistrates in the Supreme Court
Missing 29 places in regional superior courts (of them,
7 presidencies)
The head of the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court
20 presidencies of rooms in Provincial Courts
14 magistrates in the Supreme Court
In this scenario, the Supreme Court has warned the Government that it will issue a thousand fewer sentences per year if the blockade continues. The Executive has estimated the cost of the paralysis for the entire judicial system at almost 13 million.
Added to this list
the four magistrates of the Constitutional pending change (the organ is renewed by thirds). The PSOE has promoted the renewal of the high court, now with a conservative majority, by way of amending its own reform of the CGPJ and with a deadline that expires on Tuesday, September 13.
Pedro Jose
Gonzalez Trevijano
(President)
Juan
Antonio Xiol
(vice president)
Pedro Jose
Gonzalez Trevijano
(President)
Juan
Antonio Xiol
(vice president)
Juan
Antonio Xiol
(vice president)
Pedro Jose
Glez. Trevijano
(President)
Juan
Antonio Xiol (vice president)
Pedro Jose
Glez. Trevijano
(President)
The change that the socialists have promoted in the legislation that they already reformed together with Podemos last year returns its powers to the Council, but only to appoint the two TC magistrates that correspond to it. The other two are the responsibility of the Government, which seeks to update the composition of the Constitutional Court to tilt it towards a progressive majority.
Thus, to the crisis facing the CGPJ due to the PSOE and PP’s blocking of its own renewal is now added the internal division when it comes to filling the two vacancies of the TC to which the Government has forced.
The appointments require a qualified majority of three fifths of the current composition of the Council. The body now has 18 members due to the death of Victoria Cinto, who was identified with the progressive sector, and the retirement of Rafael Fernández Valverde, from the conservative bloc.
Position of the CGPJ on the renewal of the TC
Member proposed by the PNV
Carlos Lesmes
(President)
Rafael Fernandez Valverde
(retired)
Victory Belt
(deceased)
Clara Martinez de Careaga
Position of the CGPJ on the renewal of the TC
Member proposed by the PNV
Carlos Lesmes
(President)
Rafael Fernandez Valverde
(retired)
Victory Belt
(deceased)
Clara Martinez de Careaga
Position of the CGPJ on the renewal of the TC
Member proposed by the PNV
Carlos Lesmes
(President)
Rafael Fernandez Valverde (retired)
Clara Martinez de Careaga
Victory Belt
(deceased)
Position of the CGPJ on the renewal of the TC
Member proposed by the PNV
Carlos Lesmes
(President)
Rafael Fdez. Valverde (retired)
Clara Martinez de Careaga
Victory Belt
(deceased)
That majority would be twelve members, but the president, Carlos Lesmes, has the power to vary the election rules. A good part of the conservative sector threatens to block the election of the magistrates of the Constitutional Court, which would cause an unprecedented bankruptcy between the Judicial Power and the Executive Power.
The Council meets today in an atmosphere of high tension. You have until Tuesday to resolve the two TC appointments.
#Visual #guide #lost #entanglement #Judiciary