Two of the three most representative judicial associations, the majority Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM), with a conservative tendency, and the progressive Judges and Judges for Democracy (JJPD), have requested this Thursday the “immediate” renewal of the General Council of the Judicial Branch (CGPJ), whose mandate expired five years ago. Both associations have issued statements coinciding with the final phase of the open negotiation between the PSOE and the PP with the mediation of the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, to renew the governing body of the judges. The talks began last January and cannot continue beyond April because Reynders leaves his position.
The text released by the majority association insists on the route set by the European Commission: first renew the CGPJ and then, reform the system of election of the judges. “Constitutional mandates must be fulfilled by everyone.” “This situation of deterioration and wear is affecting the ordinary functioning of the General Council of the Judiciary, but fundamentally, and this is the most serious, the perception that the citizen has of the independent function that the judges and magistrates of this office perform every day. country. The constant criticism that, with excessive frequency, is poured out on the Council and the permanent political struggles, lead citizens to believe, unfairly and mistakenly, that the judges of this country are not independent,” the association points out.
The progressive, for its part, emphasizes that the current situation “harms society, legal professionals and the judicial organization, since multiple vacancies cannot be filled. It is time to renew and return to normality.” “The excuses offered, endless and changing, cannot be accepted,” adding: “It is unacceptable that relevant institutions are mistreated in this way.”
The two associations focus on the Congress and the Senate, since it is to the Cortes that the law entrusts the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary. Both Chambers launched the process in 2018, before the mandate of the current CGPJ expired, but the PP has been making changing excuses and the necessary agreement between the Popular Party and the Socialists has still not been closed five years later. The APM urges the Congress and the Senate to “reach the necessary agreements and proceed to the immediate renewal of the CGPJ, while the JJPD recalls that it has asked the presidencies of both Chambers to convene “immediate plenary sessions to overcome the democratic anomaly that represents that the General Council of the Judiciary remains in office for so long.”
Although both associations agree on the need to immediately reform the CGPJ, their positions differ regarding the steps that should be taken once the body is unblocked. The APM is committed to reforming the law, as requested by the PP, so that the 12 members of the CGPJ are elected by the judges. “It is the first of our demands and it is, furthermore, inalienable,” says the association. JJPD opposes this formula: “Nor can it be accepted, in a State of law, that its modification be made a condition for complying with a law, especially when it derives from a constitutional mandate.”
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