The order of the president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Carlos Lesmes, to make effective his threat to resign has caused a confrontation with the conservative bloc, which sees that its president has finally put himself in the hands of the Government. Sources from this bloc accuse Lesmes of giving in to pressure from the Socialists to leave the body of judges and thus force the PP to negotiate the renewal of the Council.
Lesmes announced during the opening of the judicial year on September 7 that if the blockade situation persisted after almost four years of the body in office, he would resign. He did not give any deadline but the feeling that he left is that it would be before the end of the year.
However, his latest movement indicates that his departure from both the body and the presidency of the Supreme Court may be imminent. Lesmes asked his Technical Cabinet for a report to record who should be the person to replace him in the two presidencies in case of resignation.
The document maintains that according to the law, the Vice President of the Supreme Court will be the person who assumes control of both the high court and the CGPJ. However, the position of vice president is currently also being held in office since the retirement of Ángel Juanes in October 2019.
"This assumes that the substitute holds office and, therefore, temporarily holds all its functions, including the function of substituting the presidency of the Supreme Court and the CGPJ", this is Francisco Marín, current president of the Chamber of the Civil of the high court.
Lesmes has moved this tab days before the arrival in Spain of the Commissioner for Justice of the European Union, Didier Reynders. The pressure of the departure of the president of the body of judges together with that of Europe, which sees with great concern the situation of the Spanish judiciary in the face of the image of politicization of Justice, will fall on both the PP and the PSOE.
The truth is that Europe demands that the Council be renewed first and then reform the law be studied so that it is the judges who elect its twenty members. In this approach, the first to give in is the PP, as it is the one that is refusing to validate the lists already drawn up with the candidates proposed both by themselves and by the Socialists.
Lesmes's decision, which seems like it could be carried out in the next few days, has fallen like a bucket of cold water among the conservative bloc. They believe that his abandonment complicates the situation within the Council, which he leaves "degraded" and in his "worst condition".
In his opinion, if he leaves the body, he charges the Government and the PSOE with reasons and leaves the party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo without tools. The still president of the judiciary has always defended his institutional position and considers that given the circumstances of the blockade there is no other option than resignation if that can favor the renewal of the Council.
In addition, they suspect that Lesmes, supported at the time by the conservatives, is seeking at all costs the appointment of the two magistrates of the Constitutional Court for the next plenary session despite the evidence of the plan of this block to lengthen the process until they know what happens with the renovation.
Right now, the Conservatives want to put up with the election until they force a renewal. What they would be willing to do is carry out a rapid process as soon as the PP and PSOE agree and unblock the Council
