The blockade continues in the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). More than a month later, the members who took office on July 25 still cannot agree on the person who will preside over the board of judges for the next five years. After the political agreement for the renewal after more than five years of mandate, the responsibility is in the hands of the 20 new members, who for the moment have not been able to appoint a president and thus allow the institution to begin functioning normally after years of discredit.
This new plenary session has shown that the division between the members of the body is, for the moment, unbridgeable. However, they have agreed to meet again this Tuesday and look for new candidates. The hope is that there will be an appointment before next Thursday, when the solemn judicial opening ceremony will be celebrated. In any case, the interim president of the Supreme Court, Francisco Marín, has been preparing his speech with his collaborators for days, waiting for no agreement to be reached. This would be the sixth consecutive year in which this speech has been given by a president in office.
The situation is unprecedented. Until this eighth term, it was usual for the nomination of the presidency – which is formally made by the members – to be decided in advance by the parties. But this time, the decision was left in the hands of the members, who are also completely divided in two, with 10 nominated on the proposal of the PSOE and Sumar and the other 10 on the initiative of the PP.
Since last July, the names of seven Supreme Court judges have been on the table, from which should emerge the one who will be the highest judicial authority of the State for the next five years, according to the rules agreed by the judges. But none of them obtained the necessary support during the four days of voting that took place. Before the start of the plenary session this Monday, the conservative bloc proposed to look for new profiles, thus breaking the agreement of a few weeks ago. But the proposal did not resolve the situation either.
The progressive sector aspires for the first time to have a woman preside over the CGPJ, with Supreme Court judge Pilar Teso being its main candidate so far. The shortlist of the progressive bloc is completed by Ángeles Huet and Ana Ferrer, the only judge who defended the application of the amnesty law to the crime of embezzlement and, therefore, to Carles Puigdemont.
The members chosen at the initiative of the PSOE and Sumar defend that this is a “new cycle” in which the body must be chaired by a woman and that she must also have a progressive sensitivity. Until now, all the presidents have been men and all their rivals, when there have been any, have also been men. Teso was proposed for the first time in 2013, when he lost the vote to Carlos Lesmes with a CGPJ with a conservative majority. Furthermore, 57.2% of those active in the judicial career are women, although this percentage contrasts with their limited presence in the higher courts.
Teso’s profile, with a great legal career, is not appreciated by conservatives, who consider her an “emissary” of the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños. The preferred candidate of the members chosen on the proposal of the PP is Pablo Lucas, whom they try to pass off as a progressive and consensual profile, something with which they do not agree in the other bloc. Last August, the members elected on the proposal of the PP agreed to elect a woman, but on the condition that it be one of the judges proposed by their sector: Carmen Lamela or Esperanza Córdoba. Its other candidate is Antonio del Moral. They emphasize that both are renowned jurists and are not linked to any association. Teso is not associated and Ferrer belongs to the Progressive Judges and Judges for Democracy.
The talks, which remained open throughout August, have intensified in recent days. Especially this Monday, when the members of the negotiating commission composed of four progressives and four conservatives met at 12 o’clock in the morning at the CGPJ premises. A little before 3 o’clock, they took a break and resumed the meeting half an hour later. The plenary session, which was scheduled for 5 o’clock, finally began only an hour later.
The blockade also shows the total importance that both blocs give to the person in charge of leading an institution that manages a budget close to 80 million euros and is responsible for electing senior officials in the judicial career and sanctioning the offences of judges.
The lack of agreement delays the paralysis of the body, which has among its main challenges the filling of 98 seats in the main courts, including 26 in the Supreme Court, where almost one in three positions is not filled. The other commissions responsible for, among other things, finding competitive judge positions or resolving disciplinary matters, cannot begin to function either. In addition, this represents a failure to comply with the deadlines established by the law that regulates the judiciary. This rule establishes that the election of the presidency, which will also be the election of the Supreme Court, will take place “between three and seven days” after the constitutive session, which was held on July 25.
