At the General Council of the Judicial Power (CGPJ), uncertainty reigned but it has now dissipated: both Ana Ferrer as Pilar Teso have decided to present their candidacies to respectively chair the Criminal Chamber and the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court.
It is these two Chambers that the Government has been paying particular attention to for months.
The criminal court – the one refused to apply the amnesty to the crime of embezzlement committed by those responsible for the “trial” and the forced to modify the “law of only yes means yes” faced with the massive reduction in sentences for rapists – an investigation has just been opened into who was Pedro Sánchez’s right-hand man at the PSOE, the former Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalosfor serious corruption offences.
And he is also pursuing action against the attorney general, Álvaro Garcia Ortizfor the alleged revelation of confidential data linked to the investigation for tax fraud against Alberto González Amador, partner of Madrid’s president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
The Contentious-Administrative Chamber – the one which annulled the appointment of Magdalena Valerio as president of the Council of State and the one who agreed with the Colonel Pérez de los Cobos in his fight against the ministers Fernando Grande Marlaska And Marguerite Robles– has in its hands the execution of appeals against the appointment of the former minister Dolores Delgado as prosecutor of the Hall of Democratic Memory. And another resource that questions the appointment of García Ortiz as head of the Public Ministry.
The new CGPJ faces media coverage of the presidencies of the two Chambers, the first due to the end of the mandate of Manuel Marchenawho is not re-electable for a third term, and the second because it has been vacant since January 2023, when César Tolosa was appointed member of the Constitutional Court.
Since then, the Litigation-Administrative Chamber has been headed by Paul Lucasa judge of enormous prestige who, having a moderate progressive profile, did not obtain the support of the CGPJ sector proposed by the PSOE neither in 2022 for the TC nor last September to preside over the judiciary.
“Pablo Lucas does not marry anyone, he is not politically predictable, it is his radical independence that does not like the government,” affirm the magistrates of the Chamber who work with him.
Lucas is number 4 on the judicial career ladder and has served on the Supreme Court for 23 years.
Number 1 on the scale is Andres Martínez Arrietathrough whom all the vicissitudes of the Criminal Chamber went through for 36 years, first as head of the Technical Cabinet of this Chamber for a decade and, since 1998, as magistrate.
For both, this is, in all likelihood, the last opportunity to be presidents of their Chambers, since Lucas will retire in July 2026 and Martínez Arrieta, in April 2027.
Filing at the Civil Chamber
In the Supreme Court, the opinion is widespread that both “deserve to become president” before the forced retirement, reached this Sunday. Francisco Marinountil now interim president of the Civil Chamber.
The judge aspires to the presidency of the Civil Chamber Ignacio Sancho. The only judge in this Chamber who could do so, María Ángeles Parra, will not run for office.
Pilar Tesonumber 11 in the ranking, has been a judge in the Contentious-Administrative Chamber since 2008. This is the second time that she is running for president: she did so in September 2020, during the election of Tolosa.
After the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary last July, Teso was a candidate for the presidency of the Supreme Court and the CGPJ, like Pablo Lucas and Ana Ferrer. However, in September he withdrew his candidacy due to the stagnation of votes and after receiving criticism in some media – which he considered fallacious and unfair – regarding his closeness to the government.
Ferrer continued his race for the presidency of the judiciary, which Isabel Perelló ultimately won.
Ana Ferrernumber 25 of her career, was the first magistrate of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, where she arrived in 2014. Member of the General Codification Commission and with a recognized progressive background, in recent months she has signed two private votes in that he departed from the opinion of the Chamber on sensitive issues for the Government: the application of the amnesty and the conviction of those responsible for the ERE fraud for embezzlement.
Gender parity
The progressive sector of the CGPJ will apply the rule of gender parity, which was introduced for the first time in the rules of competitions for Chamber presidencies and magistrate positions of the Supreme Court, to promote the candidacies of Ferrer and Teso.
There will be a dispute within the ruling body of judges, who will have to reach a consensus because neither group has the power alone 13 votes necessary for the execution of these appointments.
The CGPJ always did not specify how the rule will be applied that no gender exceeds 60% of dating or falls below 40%. Of the four presidencies of the House currently contested, one (the Civil) does not have the possibility of appointing a woman and the other, the Social, has a progressive candidate who has many options to ascend to the presidency, Ureste-Design.
The appointment of Ureste, a High Court judge since January 2019, would reduce the options for Teso and Ferrer. But, in addition, many deputies consider that gender (masculine or feminine) cannot be prevail on the merits to access a position.
