The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has gained time to appoint the two magistrates of the Constitutional Court, as it should do before September 13 as marked by the new reform of the law approved by the PSOE last July.
Given the situation of tension experienced within the body of judges due to the discomfort of the reform, the body has sought an intermediate solution in the extraordinary plenary session that had been convened for today.
According to Council sources, during the meeting the members have agreed on some procedural rules to see how the selection process of the candidates for the two positions as magistrate of the TC will be carried out. The next plenary session will be convened by the president, Carlos Lesmes, by his own decision or at the initiative of five members. The progressive wing could request it in the coming days to try to put some names on the table before the deadline expires.
In the note of the CGPJ it has been recalled that the convening of this extraordinary plenary session was communicated “to all the members” in July, after the approval of the reform of the law in which the Council was required a term to make the appointments of the TC , so that the names were agreed upon before reaching today.
Among the agreed rules of procedure, it is established that two candidates will be presented to the plenary session, although later the members may present proposals for additional candidates until the very moment of the start of the session. The members may vote for a maximum of two candidates in each vote and will only be designated if they achieve three-fifths of the votes of the plenary.
In this way, the body of judges gains time to put on the table the candidates to occupy two seats of the Constitutional Court. The conservative bloc is clear that it will not be possible to meet the deadline of September 12 set by the Government, after promoting a legislative reform to force them to do so within a set period of three months.
For the conservatives, the reforms promoted by the party that governs Spain have been the ones that have really caused a situation of collapse in Spanish justice, by preventing the CGPJ while it is in office from making appointments for magistrates of the Supreme Court, higher courts of justice and presidencies of provincial hearings.
To this reform was added a counter-reform to allow the CGPJ to only make appointments for magistrates of the TC because otherwise the Government cannot appoint its two anticipated magistrates that will give it a progressive majority in the constitutional body.
Until yesterday, eight of the twenty members were clear that the term set by the new norm was not going to be carried out, although they defended the institutionality of supporting it by taking out, without deadlines, the two appointments of magistrates of the Constitutional Court.
However, yesterday’s threat by Lesmes to present his resignation within weeks if the PP and the PSOE do not renew the Council -in office for almost four years now- or if the Government does not return the powers to the body of judges has given back to the situation again.
If none of the scenarios is met -something unlikely- and Lesmes ends up resigning, this group of members who are more reluctant to comply with the new rule will do everything possible to prevent the council from appointing the two magistrates of the TC as the court wants. Government.
This is maintained by sources from the body, who warn that if the Government lets Lesmes resign without taking the necessary measures so that this does not happen, a part of the Council will act accordingly and will not facilitate the fulfillment of the Executive’s claims.
The situation seems to be getting more and more complicated because after the speech by the president of the CGPJ and the Supreme Court, which increased the level of pressure on the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, neither has taken for granted.
The PSOE continues to insist that the only responsibility lies with the PP, which intends to obstruct compliance with the law and the Constitution with new excuses. Meanwhile, the “popular” continue to demand that the PSOE negotiate some requirements to carry out the renewal of the body of judges. In the last hours, its leader has demanded that the Executive park the appointments of the TC until the renewal of a body that has been in office for almost four years is resolved.
