The long blockade in the Council of the Judicial Power and the summons of its president, Carlos Lesmes, to the PP and the Government so that they renew it urgently, under threat of resignation, have given way to movements between the negotiators. The PP would be willing to take the first step to unblock the situation.
Sources from the Judicial Power assure that the PP would have “understood the message” of Lesmes who at the opening of the judicial year assured that “the renewal must be undertaken urgently and in accordance with current legislation, without any political force being able to subordinate it to successive conditions that prevent compliance with the clear constitutional mandate of the term, which does not admit interpretations.
The popular are willing to make a gesture so that the deterioration of the institution, which has been in office for more than four years, does not continue. They are willing to facilitate the appointment of the magistrates of the Constitutional Court and also of the Supreme Court.
According to the same sources, the PP would demand from the Government certain profiles in the candidates that are proposed, especially that they cannot be identified with any political party, in an attempt – they say – so that citizens do not see in the election a distribution of chromes.
In fact, already in the document that the PP sent to Pedro Sánchez last July under the title “Proposal to strengthen judicial independence and democratic quality in Spain”, the popular underlined that for renewal “the most prestigious profiles will be preferred and those less linked to political parties, respecting the shifts established in the Constitution: twelve members from the judicial career and eight jurist members”. With this, the PP also wanted that magistrates who had not been included by other judges in the list of candidates sent to the Government could not be incorporated into the Judicial Council, through the jurists of recognized prestige.
According to the same sources, the popular intend after the renewal to reach agreements with the Government to establish by law certain requirements in the renewal. However, these conditions would not prevent the immediate designation of the new members.
Thus, the PP intends to make proposals to avoid “revolving doors” in the judiciary and prevent judges from becoming part of the government. In the event that they stand for a political election, they could not return to the judiciary within two years of leaving office. In addition, members of the CGPJ could not be appointed who have held positions related to politics in the previous five years, while to be appointed a magistrate of the Supreme Court, a seniority of 25 years of active service in the judicial career would be required, without being able to compute years of special service of any kind.
