The Association of Prosecutors, the majority in the race, presented to the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court a appeal against a second appointment of Dolores Delgado, former Minister of Justice and former Attorney General, as prosecutor of the Hall of Democratic Memory.
This is the second time Delgado has been appointed to this position. The previous appointment, made on June 13, 2023 against the majority opinion of the Tax Councilwas overturned by the Supreme Court on May 21.
The High Court also annulled Delgado’s promotion to the post of prosecutor of the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court, finding that the attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, had committed a misuse of power.
The Supreme Court annuls the appointment of Delgado as prosecutor for human rights and democratic memory.
The unfavorable legal decisions did not dissuade García Ortiz from reappointing his predecessor as prosecutor of the Chamber of Democratic Memory, still in the minority in the Fiscal Council.
In its judgment last May, the Litigation-Administrative Chamber ordered to cancel the proceedings for the coverage of this position so that “the Fiscal Council decides whether the prohibition of article 58.1 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office applies or not”.
This provision provides that prosecutors cannot practice “in public prosecutor’s offices which include in their territorial district a population within which their spouse or a person with whom they are linked in a stable manner by a similar emotional relationship carries out an industrial or commercial activity which prevents it impartial exercise of his functionsin the opinion of the Tax Council”.
The six representatives of the Association of Prosecutors in the Council and the member of the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors refused to participate in the vote on the candidates for the position, believing that, beforehand, the Tax Inspectorate should have analyzed whether Dolores Delgado faced the ban provided for in article 58.1 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
AF advisers then explained that Delgado’s husband, former judge Baltasar Garzonis a lawyer and chairs the Baltasar Garzón International Foundation, which since its creation in 2011 “participates actively in the preparation of reports before national and international institutions on issues such as allegations of violations by the Spanish State of the provisions of the Convention against Enforced Disappearances”. or, before the UN, by proposing to investigate and judge the disappearances of the Franco regime and the non-application of the amnesty law.
These reports “were the basis of the Law on Democratic Memory to the point that the creation of the Chamber’s Prosecutor’s Office resulted from its recommendations. And this without prejudice to the fact that, in addition, Dolores Delgado collaborated in the activities of the Foundation itself. , both when she was Minister of Justice and later,” they noted at the time.
Appointment canceled
The Supreme Court accepted the appeals filed by the AF, the APIF and by Luis Ibáñez, candidate for this position, declaring that in fact, the determination of the application of article 58.1 of the statute to Dolores Delgado should have be clarified before the vote. . of the Tax Council on the candidates for the position.
In pursuance of the High Court’s decision, the matter was again debated at the Tax Council on July 16, which found by five votes out of 12 that there was neither prohibition nor incompatibility to Dolores Delgado, who was once again proposed for the position.
Here again, the advisors of the AF and the APIF decided not to participate. They alleged that the compatibility file established by the Tax Inspectorate was incomplete and could therefore not issue any criteria.
“We cannot comment on the prohibition provided for in Article 58.1 of the Statute without any verification to the extreme indicated in the judgments of the Supreme Court”, that is to say if the “budget offered by the family bond” is granted [con Delgado] and due to the nature of Garzón’s business activity, AF members explained.
The request of these administrators to complete the file by incorporating the register and official documentation relating to the activity and functions of FIGBAR, the foundation created by Garzón, and to the material activity of his law firm was rejected by the attorney general.
The refusal to complete the file with the elements that the majority of administrators considered essential to decide will be one of the reasons for the new appeal, reported judicial sources.
“It’s ideal”
García Ortiz informed the Supreme Court last July that the judgment that annulled Delgado’s first appointment as prosecutor of Democratic Memory had been executed.
The proposal for a new appointment explains that the spouse of Dolores Delgado “has no position or intervention in the FIBGAR foundation” and that it is a non-profit entity whose activity is not of a commercial nature nor the cases “nor does it hinder the impartial exercise of the function” of the prosecutor of the Chamber.
Regarding Garzón’s legal activity, in the opinion of the Attorney General, it is possible to resort to the abstention mechanism in the event of a conflict of interest situation, which is why Delgado “is suitable to occupy this position “.
