One of the judges appealing to Strasbourg for the blockade of the CGPJ: "We are facing a situation of flagrant constitutional non-compliance"

Mónica García de Yzaguirre is one of the six members of the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association that in 2021 led the “partisan” blockade of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), an instance that this Thursday sided with the appellants. This magistrate, assigned to the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, shows her satisfaction in an interview with EL MUNDO.

How do you assess the ruling of the Strasbourg Court? Very positively because it is not an individual claim even though we are six colleagues who have formulated the claim, but rather it is a claim by a group, by the entire Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association (AJFV) , where we have tried to have a pronouncement from a European institution on the violation of a right to Spanish judges by our own constitutional institutions, after the tremendous situation that we have been experiencing for almost five years with the blockade of the Council. What does this condemnation of Spain mean for the rule of law? It is very important because we have forgotten the enormous enthusiasm with which the Constitution was created in our country after 40 years of dictatorship and we are no longer defending the constitutional bodies. In this case, there has been an absolute failure on the part of the Constitutional Court to carry out this task of contrasting with the Constitution and preserving those constitutional values. What do you think that throughout this Legislature the political forces have not reached an agreement to renew the CGPJ? It is very serious. The rights that are conquered must be defended day by day. We cannot think that Spain has a democracy because in 1978 a Constitution was approved. We are seeing how there is a democratic involution in many countries, including European. What this situation of blockade of the Council is reflecting is that our parliamentarians and political parties are capable of breaking the Constitution year after year without there being a reaction of rejection from society in general and without the Constitutional Court having reacted in this regard.. We are facing an anomalous and extraordinary situation of a flagrant constitutional breach. The separation of powers seeks to ensure that there is no political manipulation in a State power, the Judiciary, which must enjoy sufficient independence to be able to protect the rights of citizens.

We are seeing how there is a democratic involution in many countries

After almost five years of blockade, where does the solution go to renew the Council? From the AJFV we think that the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) should be reformed and return to the original constitutional idea that they be active judges and magistrates those who can choose from among this group the members of judicial extraction of the Council. It is important that this reform takes place and that the election of the governing body of the judges is made in accordance with the modification of the LOPJ. As a member of the Judiciary, tell me what consequences this political blockade on the CGPJ has for the Administration of Justice. There is a stoppage of the project for Justice and there has been a legal modification in 2021 that has deprived the Council of a series of powers that it has been constitutionally assigned, including the appointment of discretionary positions. People may not know it but all those appointments that are left to be made are of people who put many sentences in the Supreme Court or in the High Courts of Justice to resolve the claims of the defendant. The Strasbourg ruling is merely declarative. With this sentence in hand, do you have room to take any legal action in Spain? It is something that we will meditate on within the association. In my opinion, I believe that once it is so clearly stated that the Constitutional Court has ruled unreasonably, by rejecting our amparo appeal, perhaps with this ruling we can now get the guarantee body to accept an admission from our demand.