The CGPJ will deny the summons of judges in the parliamentary commissions

The plenary session of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) unanimously agreed yesterday to urge Congress and the Senate to refrain from subpoenaing judges and magistrates to testify before the parliamentary commissions of inquiry, set up on facts that the magistrates have known during the actions that are the object of their activity.

The body warns that if, despite this, they were summoned, the Permanent Commission will deny authorization for them to appear. It was agreed by all members following the warnings issued by Junts, ERC and Sumar for the judges to go to the commissions to uncover a lawfare case, that is, a judicial persecution of political leaders.

In the agreement it is explained that the judges are “fully subject to the Constitution and the laws” and subject to disciplinary and criminal responsibility when they incur the cases classified as infractions or crimes, respectively. Therefore, and based on these laws, the judges say that they will not be able to go to the commissions to talk about their affairs, if they do not want to face sanctions or even crimes.

In fact, the body clarifies that even under the warning that they could incur criminal liability if they do not appear, “they will not have the obligation to attend to the request that is sent to them for that purpose, they will not have to appear and the CGPJ will also not authorize service fees for that reason”.

While the Council adopted this agreement with the support of all members, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, appeared in the Congress of Deputies to once again emphasize his support and that of the Government for judicial independence and his position close to that of the Council that the judges do not go to the commissions. His words came hours before meeting with the president of the Supreme Court, Francisco Marín Castán, after last week the magistrate canceled the appointment in response to the statements of the spokesperson of Together in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, in which he directly pointed out judges as participants in a judicial persecution of pro-independence leaders. Castán conveyed to the minister the need for the Government to put in all the means to stop the attacks against the Judiciary. He also informed Bolaños that this “climate of tension created as a result of these attacks” does not facilitate the pact for the renewal of the Council.

For his part, the Minister of Justice during his intervention in the commission extended his hand again to the president of the CGPJ, Vicente Guilarte: “You can count on me”. In this way, he was responding to the claim made yesterday by the president of the body of judges to the Government so that they do not disappoint the judges in their support in the face of accusations of lawfare.

Since last week, Bolaños has been doing a public defense exercise to judges and prosecutors against the accusations and insults made. The investiture agreement that the PSOE made with Junts raised suspicions in the judiciary regarding the party that governs. However, the head of Justice is trying to dispel these suspicions with his public statements. Just yesterday, Bolaños warned that anyone who commits “any interference or disqualification” with the judges or who tries to do so will be “faced”.

In the Commission, Sumar’s spokesman, Enrique Santiago, Sumar’s spokesman on the Justice committee, sided with the pro-independence parties. “No one can be above appearing in investigative commissions”, he said. The deputy clarified that it is necessary to differentiate between going to the committee and the obligation to testify. In his opinion, “no person can breach the requirements”, based on article 76 of the Constitution.

Less explicit on this matter was the State Attorney General, Álvaro García, who also had to go to the Justice Commission to validate his position after his appointment by the Government. After showing his support for all prosecutors, including those in the process, he clarified: “I will not issue any partisan political statement. Of no party It is not for me to judge or explain agreements of a political nature. The field of politics has certain rules of the game, the field of juridical others”, he affirmed.

García was indeed more specific when criticizing the CGPJ’s report of unfitness against him after the vote of eight members of the conservative bloc. The state attorney general accused the body of judges of giving him a “court of honor” by issuing a report against him promoted by the conservative bloc. He criticized the eight members for subjecting him “without a prior file, without allegations and without rigor, since they went to sources still unknown to me”, to conclude that he was not suitable for the position.

García maintained that the Council – which he describes as “outdated” – does a “disservice” to the Prosecutor’s Office with its reports, “unbecoming of lawyers of recognized prestige”.