Six former presidents of the Constitutional Court cry out against the parties for their conduct in the renewal of the court

Six former presidents of the Constitutional Court have agreed this Wednesday to demand that the institution recover "the excellence" it had in the past, and have blamed the recent crises of the body on partisan interests that have prevailed in each of its renewals, particularly in the last.

At the opening ceremony of a meeting of Ibero-American constitutionalists, six former presidents of the Court of Guarantees launched strong criticism of the political forces for having stressed the institution to the point of putting its prestige and the effectiveness of its functions at risk.

Álvaro Rodríguez Bereijo, president between 1995 and 1998, criticized the lack of transparency in the renewal processes and the existence of "iron pacts" in the negotiations between the parties, in such terms that "no deputy who wants to continue in political life ” may disagree.

“The Constitutional Court may end up becoming an arbitration court”, and mutate “into a court of instance in matters of fundamental rights”, when in reality the protection of such rights must continue to be one of its essential roles.

Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, who led the court between 2013 and 2017, said that "the renewal processes compromise the authority and prestige of the Constitutional Court", and "the distribution of quotas between the parties violates the spirit of the constitutional provisions", just as the delays in the replacement of the magistrates suppose a breach of such principles.

His successor, and president until last November, Juan José González Rivas extended this problem to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), of which he said that it is "a scandal" that it has been almost four years pending an agreement for its renewal.

He also demanded that each change be made guaranteeing "the non-partisan dependence" of the members of said institutions.

In similar terms, in a crescendo of criticism as it was exposed, former presidents Pedro Cruz Villalón (1998-2001), María Emilia Casas (2004-2011) and Miguel Rodríguez Piñero (1992-1995) spoke out, who attributed discrediting the parties themselves, due to their conduct.

"There is a notable loss of prestige - he said - of the parties and leaders who have not accepted the concept of constitutional loyalty", while the court of guarantees runs the risk, if it weakens, of being disavowed at a time when it is necessary to have Bear in mind that, due to the existence of a European justice system, “the Constitutional Court will no longer always be the one to say the last word”.

From another perspective, Pascual Sala (2001-2013) criticized the fact that in the context described, the Constitutional Court is thrown on the back, which he defined as a process "of finalizing the State, which is necessary, and which it is not up to the court to do." blow of sentences”.

Casas stated in turn that the court "is strong if the best go," and González Rivas considered it necessary to "guarantee partisan non-dependence."

Pedro Cruz Villalón, for his part, considered it essential that the court meet "excellence and recognition", requirements that were respected in the first compositions of the institution.

"If in a constitutional system there is no court that starts from that excellence, that court is going to have a very complicated time."

Another common denominator was the demand for a political pact that ends the construction of the autonomous State, and the absolute limitation, even the prohibition, of challenges.

In this sense, there were various references to the mistake made in his day with Pablo Pérez Tremps, who was removed from the court in the appeal against the Statute of Catalonia after being challenged for having carried out scientific work for a foundation linked to the Generalitat.