The CGPJ opposes the Government's candidate for attorney general for the first time in democracy: "He is not suitable"

The majority of the General Council of the Judiciary has considered that Álvaro García Ortiz is not suitable to serve as Attorney General of the State after the Supreme Court ruled that he incurred a “deviation of power” when he promoted his predecessor in office, the former minister and former attorney general, Dolores Delgado, to the highest category of the Fiscal Career.

Eight members of the Plenary have voted in favor of this thesis, seven against and counselor Enrique Lucas has abstained since his brother, Judge Pablo Lucas, presided over the Chamber that annulled Delgado's appointment.

In short, the governing body of the judges does not give its approval to García Ortiz. However, this report is mandatory but not binding, so the Government can appoint its candidate for State Attorney General.

The majority of the Judiciary understands that the prosecutor is suitable to be the visible head of the Public Ministry both because of the setback of the Supreme Court – the High Court found that he committed a “deviation of power” in the exercise of his expensive, his biased appointment policy favoring what was his association the Progressive Union of Prosecutors, his affinity with the PSOE or his controversial refusal to condemn the term 'lawfare'.

Two blocks

According to legal sources, members Nuria Díaz Abad, José María Macías, Juan Manuel Fernández, Gerardo Martínez Tristán, Wenceslao Olea, José Antonio Ballesteros Carmen Llombart and María Ángeles Carmona, all members of the conservative sector, have voted in favor of considering the attorney general unsuitable. of Council.

The progressive sector members Roser Barch, Álvaro Cuesta, Mar Cabrejas, Pilar Sepúlveda, Clara Martínez de Careaga and the conservatives Juan Martínez Moya and the president Vicente Guilarte voted in favor of granting the approval to García Ortiz.. The abstention of member Enrique Lucas was supported by the unanimity of the Plenary.

His connection with Delgado

Article 29.1 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office establishes that the State Attorney General will be appointed by the King, at the proposal of the Government, “after having previously heard the General Council of the Judiciary, choosing him from among jurists of recognized prestige with more than fifteen years of practice.” effective of his profession.

When Álvaro García Ortiz was appointed attorney general of the State for the first time, in the summer of 2022, seven members of the CGPJ issued a harsh dissenting vote where they indicated that “the proposed candidate does not comply, in our opinion, with the requirement of impartiality that the assumption of such high responsibility implies». In the dissenting opinion formulated, they also emphasized their relationship with Delgado, which they also considered unsuitable.