The Constitutional Court will rule on the limitation of functions of the CGPJ next October
Starting next October 2, the plenary session of the Constitutional Court will hold a monographic plenary session on the unconstitutionality appeals presented by Vox and PP against the reform of the CGPJ that limits the functions of the body. Considers that the matter requires an exclusive study given its complexity and general interest.
The two appeals were admitted months ago. The two parties challenged the reform to cut the powers of the Council when it is in office, including that of making appointments to the judicial leadership.. The bill promoted by PSOE and Unidas Podemos was highly contested not only by the opposition, but by the CGPJ itself, which unsuccessfully tried on several occasions to get Congress to seek its opinion before its processing.. The possibility of going to the Constitutional Court to raise a conflict of powers with the Lower House was even considered, as promoted by a group of members, whose request was discarded..
The rule came to light again during the opening ceremony of the judicial year when the acting president of the Supreme Court referred to the desolate situation in which the TS and other courts find themselves, trapped in this prohibition on appointments and the lack of agreement between the two main political formations to renew the CGPJ. The organ had to be renovated almost five years ago.
The endless history of the CGPJ leads the high courts to collapse. In the words of the president of the Supreme Court, Francisco Marín Castán, this is an attack on the independence of the body. “If the fundamental mission of the General Council of the Judiciary is to ensure the independence of judges, not proceeding with their renewal in a timely manner is still a way of curtailing the fullness of that independence, in the same way as maintaining to the nation's highest court in a critical, almost life-saving situation,” he said..
As he warned, “what is failing is the democratic impulse” on the part of the political actors, and this has led to “one of the saddest episodes in our constitutional history”, such as the resignation a year ago of his predecessor in the position, Carlos Lesmes. “The open and repeated confrontation between the different political forces regarding the Judiciary ends up generating a pernicious perception of the institutions and the jurisdictional work in the citizens. A perception that, even if it does not conform to reality, is already enormously harmful in itself,” he added.
The blockade in the judicial leadership dates back to March 2021, when the PSOE and Unidas Podemos carried out a reform that prevents the body from making appointments to the highest positions while it is in office.. The Government justified this measure as an incentive to renew the CGPJ, but, months later, the delay in resolving matters reaches such a point that, according to legal sources, some courts will take years to recover..
With a staff of 79 magistrates, the Supreme Court itself will have 23 vacant positions this October, a lack of personnel that is already unsustainable for the Contentious-Administrative Chamber and the Social Chamber.. In the case of the National Court, the presidency of the Criminal Chamber also stands out, which became vacant after the departure of Judge Concepción Espejel to the Constitutional Court a year ago.. Judge Alfonso Guevara has held the acting presidency since then, but the election of the definitive replacement for a court that resolves crimes of terrorism or macro-causes of political corruption, among other issues, depends on a CGPJ that remains unrenewed.. In total, the places pending renewal now amount to 83.