The Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judicial Power (CGPJ) has clarified the mystery regarding the composition of the court of the first section of the Court of Seville which must dictate the final conviction of former Andalusian presidents Manuel Chaves and José Antonio Griñán in the ERE case, after correction by the Constitutional Court (TC) to the criteria of the said judicial body and the Supreme Court.
The decision-making body of judges responded to the urgent request made by the governing chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) that Judge Encarnación Gómez, currently assigned to the Provincial Court of Alicante and in a voluntary administrative situation, leaves, has the obligation to join in the issuance of the new resolution in this matter of macro-corruption. However, the Permanent Commission emphasizes that it is up to the governing body of the TSJA to encourage the magistrate to reinstate his position.
The panel of judges removed this issue from the agenda of the October 22 meeting with the idea of study it in depth and propose all possible alternatives. The decision was postponed until the next session of the Standing Commission. One possibility considered was having to repeat the trial.
Of the three judges who made up the court, only one remains active, which complicates the drafting of the resolution. On October 8, the president of the TSJA announced that one of the members of the court that handed down the sentence, Encarnación Gómez, had been on leave to care for a family member since last July. For this reason, the TSJA conducted an urgent consultation with the CGPJ to determine whether Whether or not said permit remains ineffective and whether the new sentence can be pronounced by a body composed of only two judgesPilar Lorente and Encarnación Gómez, cited above, given that the third, president of the court, Juan Antonio Calle Peña, is “out of the exercise of judicial office” after his early retirement.
The TSJA launched an “urgent consultation” to the judiciary to interpret whether the judge on leave “may or may not serve on this court.” The president of the TSJA, Lorenzo del Riodefended that the law establishes that “those (judges) who are on voluntary leave to occupy political functions cannot pronounce sentences, which is not their case”. He therefore declares that he can come back and sign the judgment.
The panel of judges removed this issue from the agenda of the October 22 meeting with the idea of study it in depth and propose all possible alternativesas reported by the CGPJ and the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA). The decision was postponed until the next session of the Standing Commission. One possibility was to have to repeat the trial.
The president of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Lorenzo del Río, There was no “obstacle” for the judge on voluntary leave to “enter the court” of the first section of the Provincial Court of Seville and, by majority, render the additional decision required by the Constitutional Court with regard to the specific procedure for financing irregular work regulation files (ERE) and arbitrary aid. According to him, the incorporation of the judge on leave could allow the court to form a majority and, thus, to assume new decisions with guarantees.
From the original courtHe currently only works at the Court of Seville Judge Pilar Llorente. The speaker and room president, Juan Antonio Calletook early retirement and now practices law. The judge, Incarnation Gomez Caselleshas been on voluntary leave to care for a family member since July 22 and he intends to exhaust her.
The Constitutional Court corrects the Court and the Supreme Court
The TC validated the arguments of the defenses in their appeals for protection and determined that The procedure put in place to provide aid between 2002 and 2009 cannot be considered illegal.since the Socialist Executive began to include the item of the ERE fund in the regional budgetary laws approved each year by the Andalusian Parliament. Instead, maintains the prevarication in those previously granted (between 2000 and 2001) and embezzlement when the destination deviated from the purposes planned in the 31L program.
The magistrates of the guarantee body, divided – by seven votes in favor of the progressive sector and four against the conservative bloc – accepted partially overturn the convictions handed down against former Andalusian presidents Manuel Chaves and José Antonio Griñánamong others found guilty of crimes of prevarication and/or embezzlement in the so-called political part of the summary. In turn, the TC urged the Seville court to issue new decisions that respect the fundamental rights violated – criminal legality and the presumption of innocence -, thus resetting the counter to zero in the specific aid procedure.
The guarantee body thus provided a corrective to the largest case of political corruption in Spain, in which 680 million euros were distributed in a clientelist and arbitrary manner in aid between companies and entities for a decade by the Junta de Andalucía during the PSOE phase.
