Since Félix Bolaños added to his responsibilities in the Central Government the portfolio of Justice, in November, the minister undertook an accelerated round of contacts with representatives of all legal operators. His declared objective in these meetings was to transfer his “maximum respect” to all these operators and institutions, and to put himself at their “full disposal”. Mitigate tensions, forge consensus, break the image of a permanent clash between the central government and the justice sector.
But, always under heavy artillery fire from the right, the appointment of the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz; the negotiations on the controversial Amnesty law; the clash with Judge Manuel García-Castellón and the Board of Prosecutors of the Supreme Court following the attribution of alleged terrorism offenses to Carles Puigdemont and other pro-independence leaders; or the latest proposal to address a reform of the Criminal Procedure Law to shorten the terms of judicial instruction, is exacerbating the tensions and discrepancies between the three powers of the State: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
The final order to the Central Government is to always show absolute respect for judicial or fiscal decisions, and to avoid accusations of “interference” by the judiciary in the action of the executive or the legislature as some ministers sometimes let go or PSOE leaders.
In this line, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, avoided answering yesterday if the judiciary is interfering in the tasks of the legislature regarding the processing of the Amnesty law, but yes it is urge all the powers of the State to fulfill their respective powers, that is to say; the legislative, to dictate the rules, and the judicial, to enforce them. “Let’s reflect and be aware of everyone’s role, which is the way to dignify the powers of the State and build true democracy”, concluded the minister.
Yesterday, Bolaños defended the central government’s position again, calling for respect for judges and prosecutors and launching a charge of depth against Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “If Junts had supported the investiture of Feijóo and he had been president, indeed, today the Popular Party would be defending an Amnesty law”, he pointed out, referring to the public letter that Carles Puigdemont published the day before. Bolaños insisted on asking for an answer to his repeated question: “What did Feijóo offer Junts in the negotiations he had with her in the summer, and what did he offer them specifically in relation to their legal cases?”.
At the same time, the delegation of the Venice Commission that is visiting Spain to analyze the technical and legal aspects of the Amnesty law, which is still in full parliamentary debate, met yesterday with the president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde- Pumpido, and with the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, after passing through Congress, the Senate and the CGPJ on Thursday. Conde-Pumpido avoided evaluating any aspect of the amnesty and warned the experts that the law they were asking about had not even been approved, and that, therefore, the TC cannot evaluate any of its aspects. In the meeting, which took place out of “institutional courtesy”, according to the same court, the president explained to the delegation that once the law is approved they expect appeals of unconstitutionality to be presented by some party against the rule , in addition to questions of unconstitutionality by judges or courts that have to apply the amnesty.
Also, the attorney general preferred to keep a low profile in his meeting with this delegation after the open tension within the public ministry this week following conflicting reports on whether the Supreme Court should investigate Puigdemont for terrorism in the case of Democratic Tsunami.
In fact, the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors presented an appeal to the Supreme Court yesterday against the appointment of Álvaro García as Attorney General. In this way, the High Court, which has already overturned several appointments of the Prosecutor’s Office, will have the power to assess whether the requirements were met with this appointment.
