Shock at the CGPJ for the support of the member Pilar Sepúlveda for Griñán's request for pardon

Seven members of the General Council of the Judiciary have issued a statement regarding the position of another of the members, the Sevillian lawyer Pilar Sepúlveda, who has signed in favor of granting a pardon to the former president of the Board José Antonio Griñán by the Government after the sentence of the Supreme Court of six years in prison.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
19 September 2022 Monday 11:49
5 Reads
Shock at the CGPJ for the support of the member Pilar Sepúlveda for Griñán's request for pardon

Seven members of the General Council of the Judiciary have issued a statement regarding the position of another of the members, the Sevillian lawyer Pilar Sepúlveda, who has signed in favor of granting a pardon to the former president of the Board José Antonio Griñán by the Government after the sentence of the Supreme Court of six years in prison.

Seven members of the conservative bloc believe that Sepúlveda's position on the matter so that the Supreme Court ruling notified last week is nullified breaks with the image of "neutrality" that the constitutional body to which it belongs should have. "It is seriously compromised before public opinion, and could be understood as an interference in the powers of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court."

In his statement, he warns that the member has not taken into account that as a member of the body of judges, his support for pardon may interfere with the report that the high court must now make on the request for pardon.

"The signing of the petition entails a plus regarding what could be a personal manifestation, an opinion on the opportunity or convenience of granting the pardon," explain the members.

In his opinion, adherence by signing the letter addressed to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, supposes an "active and relevant role, with an increased diffusion due to the character of authority of the judicial government, which collides with the aforementioned duties of prudence and neutrality that should guide the actions of the General Council of the Judiciary".

After this statement, the members study whether Sepúlveda should be requested to deviate from some decisions of the Council, such as the appointment of two magistrates of the Constitutional Court, because this body must resolve the appeals raised by both Griñán and the rest of the condemned for the case of the ERE of Andalusia, public aid granted irregularly for a decade.

"For all these reasons, we make public our total disagreement with the participation of the signatory of the petition for pardon and the apparent interference that this may entail in matters pending before the courts," they add.

Griñán has been sentenced to six years in prison for a crime of embezzlement of public funds. Since the ruling was known, there have been several personalities who have supported the Executive granting him a measure of grace to prevent his admission to a prison.

Among the supports he has received are that of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, Senator Susana Díaz, or former presidents Felipe González and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.