While denouncing the prolonged situation of institutional anomaly due to the current standoff over the appointment of the members of the General Council of the Spanish Judiciary, MEDEL calls for its urgent renewal to ensure full legitimacy to the institution which is guarantor of judicial independence.
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The General Council of the Spanish Judiciary has been working under an expired mandate for more than four years, a record in the history of this governing body.
As the judicial association Juezas y Jueces para la Democracia has been denouncing, the main reason for this constitutional anomaly is the lack of dialogue and compromise of political parties, which has been preventing renewal, not complying with the Constitution and current regulations.
The state of affairs is really unbearable for any minimally sensitive citizen. It must be remembered that when institutions are used as a tool for political purposes, their strength is weakened and their democratic legitimacy is affected. At a time when many are discussing the very essence of the democratic system, we should all make an effort to take care of the institutions that make up our Social and Democratic Rule of Law, as proclaimed by the Constitution.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, has repeatedly stated, the last time in a visit to the Spanish Congress, that the renewal of the General Council is a “ priority” in accordance with the current regulations, so that “immediately after this renewal” a reform in the system of appointment of Council members must take place, but the renewal is now urgent.
It is for this reason that MEDEL denounces this prolonged situation of institutional anomaly in Spain, and call on the political parties so that, complying with the important constitutional function that they must exercise, and through Parliament, put an end to the agony suffered by the governing body of the Judiciary, and thus comply with the Law and the Constitution.
It is urgent to overcome particular interests to guarantee the general ones, and to overcome the pressures of all kinds that respond more to conjunctural electoral calculations than to the search for the common good.
Barcelona, 03 December 2022
Statement on Spain (.pdf)