The situation of the General Council of the Judiciary, the governing body of judges, raises “serious concerns”, says the European Commission in the chapter dedicated to Spain in its new report on the situation of the rule of law in the Union, which notes that The Government “has not taken steps” to follow its main recommendations last year to improve the quality of Spanish democracy and puts some duties on the executive that leaves the polls on July 23. “We call on the political groups to face the renewal as a priority, although there are just over two weeks left for the elections, so we will have to wait for the winners to act”, declared Vice President Vera Jourova, responsible for Values ??and Transparency. “Our expectations are the same for any government and any political force that wins the elections.”
The non-renewal of the CGPJ “is affecting the work of the Supreme Court and the justice system as a whole, raising concerns regarding the number of cases that are adjudicated and the duration of the procedures”, regrets the document approved today by the college of commissioners regarding the situation of this body, which continues to function with its mandate expired since December 2018 due to the refusal of the PP to renew it without agreeing at the same time to reform the system for electing judges.
Thus, Brussels recommends Spain “to proceed with the renewal of the CGPJ as a priority and immediately launch a process to reform the system for appointing its judges, taking into account European standards”, that is, so that the Most of these are chosen by the magistrates themselves, affirms the document approved today, reaffirming the order of decisions that must be made, against the claim of the PP to first change the system of election of the magistrates and then proceed to renew them. The report also reiterates that Spain must “strengthen the statute of independence of the Attorney General”, in particular by separating the duration of his mandate from that of the Government to reinforce his independence and autonomy.
“Unfortunately, we have not seen progress in these recommendations,” the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, lamented at a press conference, revealing that “in recent months” they have tried to organize a process with “the main political groups ” to address the issue but “it has been impossible” so far. “We will start again as soon as possible after the elections, depending on when the Parliament is constituted and there is a new government. We are at the disposal of the Spanish authorities to support this reform process,” stressed the former Belgian Justice Minister. According to community sources, the main Spanish political parties, PSOE and PP, are “aware” of the problem and that “they should give priority to their solution after the elections.”
The publication of the new report on the rule of law in the EU and its critical evaluation of the situation of judicial independence in Spain coincides with the beginning of the semester of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU, a milestone that this Monday brought Madrid to the plenary session of the college of European commissioners led by Ursula Von der Leyen to meet with the council of ministers of the executive of Pedro Sánchez. The content of the report was discussed during meetings held in the Gallery of Royal Collections and the Government awaited its publication with relative calm.
The report indicates that the CGPJ and other organizations complained about the “public statements” made by politicians, “including members of the Government”, to the action of the judiciary during the year 2022, a comment that seems to allude to the criticism of some Podemos ministers to the court rulings handed down as a result of the approval of the ‘only yes is yes’ law. “In accordance with European standards, although the courts are not immune to criticism or scrutiny, the judiciary must enjoy the trust of the public in order to successfully fulfill its role in society,” the report states, which in another This passage recalls the low level of confidence of the Spanish in justice compared to the European average.
When reviewing the legislative changes registered in Spain during the last year, the document cites the reform of the crime of embezzlement, which in some cases provides for “a reduction in penalties”, and notes that it was “criticized” by some of the parties involved in the discussions but does not include any new recommendation to Spain in this regard to review the changes. The circumstance arises that the new proposal for a directive on corruption presented by the Commission provides for a maximum sentence of at least five years, compared to the four that the Criminal Code includes as a result of the reform promoted by Sánchez, so that if it continues going ahead in the proposed terms would force Spain to raise the penalties.
In addition to the aforementioned recommendations on the renewal and election system of the CGPJ judges, and on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Brussels recommends that Spain “redouble its efforts” to respond to the problem of the long duration of judicial investigations and, especially, “improve the efficiency of the management of high-level corruption cases”, as well as “reinforce the rules on conflicts of interest and declarations of assets” of people with high executive functions by strengthening the Office on Conflicts of Interest, dependent of the Ministry of Finance.
On the other hand, in certain areas, the evaluation of Brussels on the evolution of the rule of law in Spain is more positive, for example through the adoption of measures to facilitate equal access to justice, the increase in the number of judges, the digitization of justice and the improvement of the indicators on the efficiency of the judicial system, although “the total duration of the cases in the Supreme Court continues to be a challenge”. In addition, the EC concludes that the Government “has fully implemented the recommendation to ensure sufficient resources for the audiovisual regulator and sees “some progress” in public access to information, in particular through the revision of the law on official secrets, which It calls for completion Finally, it welcomes the fact that “significant progress” has been made in the legislation on lobbies, including the creation of a mandatory public registry, but encourages completion of this reform.
Moncloa, for its part, has made an optimistic and original assessment of the European Commission report, which it presents as a direct attack on the PP. “The right, solely responsible for the blockade of the Judiciary”, maintain government sources, who affirm that “the European Commission clearly attributes to the PP the responsibility of the blockade” of the CGPJ and emphasize that it is “very unusual that in a report of these characteristics it is said so openly that the main problem of the rule of law in a country is due to the attitude of the opposition”. It is so unusual or improbable, in fact, that a report of these characteristics gets involved in national partisan struggles that the only justification that Moncloa has been able to find to support this reading is a mere footnote that makes a factual reference to the PP’s decision to “suspend negotiations” to renew the governing body of judges, citing a press release from the main opposition party on October 27, 2022. The report notes that “since then there has been no progress” . In any case, Brussels reaffirms itself in the order in which the recommendations must be addressed: first renew the CGPJ and then, immediately, reform the system of election of judges, which is the strategy defended by the PSOE and from which the PP disowns.
