The blocking of the renewal 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 the annual report on the situation of the rule of law in the Union, published yesterday, in which it regrets that no steps have been taken to continue its recommendations from last year to improve the quality of democracy.
“We call on the political groups to deal with the renewal as a priority, even though there are just over two weeks left until the elections, so we will have to wait for the winners to act”, declared its vice-president, Vera Jourova, to the press. “Our expectations are the same for any Government and any political force that wins the elections”, he stressed. “We are at the disposal of the Spanish authorities to support this reform process” and start working “as soon as possible after the elections”, added the Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, who revealed that during the last months has tried “without success” to sit down to negotiate with the main parties to resolve the situation of this body, which operates with a mandate that has expired since December 2018 due to the refusal of the PP to renew its composition without agreeing at the same time to reform the system of election of judges.
“The concern increases with respect to other reports”, stresses Brussels, which states that the blocking of the CGPJ “is affecting the work of the Supreme Court and the justice system as a whole” due to “the number of cases that are awarded to it and the duration of the proceedings”. Thus, the Commission reiterates its recommendation to Spain to “proceed with the renewal of the CGPJ as a priority and launch, immediately, a process for the reform of the system of appointment of its judges, taking into account European standards”, so that the majority of these are chosen by the magistrates themselves.
Moncloa, for her part, made an optimistic and original assessment of the European Commission’s report, which it presents as a direct attack on the PP. “The right, solely responsible for the blockage of the Judiciary”, said government sources, who affirm that “the EC clearly attributes to the PP the responsibility for the blockage” of the CGPJ and emphasize that it is “very unusual” that in a report of this kind “is said so openly that the main problem with 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 this nature gets involved in national partisan struggles that the only justification that Moncloa cited to support this reading is a footnote within the document, of 41 pages, which refers to the PP’s decision to “suspend negotiations” to renew the CGPJ and quotes a press release from this party dated October 27, 2022.
Brussels notes that Spain has also not complied with its recommendation to “reinforce the Statute of Independence of the Attorney General”, separates the duration of its mandate from that of the Central Government and echoes the complaints of the CGPJ and others bodies for the “public statements” made by politicians, “including members of the central government”, to the action of the judiciary during 2022. The comment seems to allude to the criticism of some Podemos ministers in certain court rulings after the approval of the law of only yes is yes. “According to European standards, although the courts are not immune to criticism or scrutiny, the judiciary must have public confidence in order to successfully fulfill its role,” says the EC, which when reviewing the legislative changes registered in Spain in the last year, he mentions the reform of the crime of embezzlement and the reduction of penalties in some cases. He is not commenting on that for now, but Reynders said they are looking into its possible impact on the fight against money laundering.
