This Wednesday, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders urged the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) to prepare its proposal on the reform of the model for electing members of the CGPJ before February 6, so that those of judicial origin are chosen for their own careers.
At a press conference after his meeting with the two parties involved in the CGPJ renewal agreement (PP and PSOE) and with the new president of the Council of Judges, Isabel Perelló, Reynders expressed pride in the agreement reached and recalled that part of the agreement regarding the report that the CGPJ must present to Parliament within six months remains to be fulfilled.
The current Commissioner for Justice has acknowledged that there are several ways to achieve this reform so that judges to be chosen by one’s peersThe ideal would therefore be for the proposal formulated by the CGPJ before February 6 to consider various options as to how to give voice to the judicial career.
“I will remain involved until the end of the mandate of this Commission,” said Reynders, who also reiterated the European body’s interest in the amnesty. Regarding this law, he indicated that the European Commission must wait for the response of the courts, in particular the Court of Justice of the EUto be able to assess it. However, it is currently closely following the steps and appeals against this rule, both those filed before the Spanish Constitutional Court and the preliminary questions before the aforementioned CJEU.
In addition to being pleased to have participated in the agreement between the PSOE and the PP after several meetings and stressing that it was the first time that it had taken place “a structured dialogue” At this level, with the mediation of the European Commission, Reynders assured that he was aware of the “polarization that exists in some Member States” and the difficulty of understanding each other in these conditions, but “when it comes to principles such as the independence of the judiciary, there is” to reach agreements.
The Commissioner also discussed the Democracy Action Plan approved by the government yesterday, although he did not want to assess it before seeing the content of the proposals. He did stress that combating disinformation was an important part of the Commission’s work, but he insisted that “it is still early” to give an opinion.
Sources from the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, emphasize that Reynders welcomed this initiative “in a very positive way.”who implements the recommendations in Spain and European laws to improve and combat disinformation. According to these sources, the Commissioner stressed “the importance of protecting European democracies against hoaxes and disinformation.”
