Brussels says that Spain is not a unique case of ex-ministers in the TC and insists on renewing the CGPJ

The Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said this Wednesday that Spain is not the only case in the European Union where there are former ministers as magistrates of the Constitutional Court but that he will wait to have the details of the appointment of the former Minister of Justice Juan Carlos Campo , while insisting that the urgency is to renew the General Council of the Judiciary to unblock the rest of the appointments.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 November 2022 Wednesday 06:33
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Brussels says that Spain is not a unique case of ex-ministers in the TC and insists on renewing the CGPJ

The Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said this Wednesday that Spain is not the only case in the European Union where there are former ministers as magistrates of the Constitutional Court but that he will wait to have the details of the appointment of the former Minister of Justice Juan Carlos Campo , while insisting that the urgency is to renew the General Council of the Judiciary to unblock the rest of the appointments.

Reynders' words represent an endorsement from the European Commission of the theses of the Government of Pedro Sánchez, since he relativizes the criticism of the opposition and United We Can to the appointments of Juan Carlos Campo and Laura Díez to the TC for having been part of recently from the Executive and emphasizes the urgent renewal of the governing body of judges, blocked almost four years ago by the PP.

"It is not the only country in which this situation occurs. I have not looked at it yet. Let's see how we are going to analyze the exact situation of that appointment," Reynders responded to questions from Europa Press about the impact of Campo's appointment on the independence of the judiciary in Spain and on whether Brussels is considering taking action.

"But, I repeat, what we ask above all is first the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary that allows all appointments to be made in the Constitutional Court," he stressed. The last and umpteenth attempt to resolve the renewal of the Judiciary and the TC failed when the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, broke off negotiations at the end of October due to the Government's intention to modify the crime of sedition, which will finally be repealed and It will be replaced by the crime of aggravated public disorder.

Given all this, the Executive made effective yesterday its threat to designate the two members of the TC that it is responsible for appointing, without waiting, as prescribed by the Constitution, to do so jointly with the General Council of General Power (CGPJ), where the sector The conservative has been blocking the appointment of the other two for almost three months. The renewal of the four magistrates who finished their mandate last June would lead to a change of majorities in the TC, where the conservative sector would no longer be the majority.

From the PP they opposed these appointments considering that they are "not suitable" when considering the candidates "sent from the Government" to "colonize" the TC and "safeguard the legislation of the Government itself."