The Prosecutor's Office has requested the Constitutional Court (TC) to separate its president, Pedro González-Trevijano, and magistrate Antonio Narváez before the extraordinary plenary session called for this Wednesday addresses the appeal presented by the Senate to try to lift the suspension of the parliamentary processing of the two amendments that seek to renew the TC, according to tax sources consulted by Europa Press.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has sent to the TC its allegations to the appeal formulated by the Senate, indicating that, in its opinion, the complaint of the Upper House is well founded. In the opinion of the Prosecutor's Office, the suspension of the debate and the parliamentary vote on said amendments was adopted hastily and without any precedent. In this sense, it warns of the danger that the actions of the court of guarantees have established a precedent.
In addition, it is interesting that an incident of recusal be opened against González-Trevijano and Narváez, the two magistrates whom United Podemos (UP) first and later the PSOE asked to remove from the deliberation on the very precautionary measures requested by the PP in its appeal of protection against said amendments. For 'purples' and socialists, they have a "direct interest" because, if approved, they would be replaced by the Government's candidates for the TC: Juan Carlos Campo and Laura Díez.
In the extraordinary plenary session last Monday, the TC decided by 6 votes to 5 that it was not the opportune procedural moment to study the challenges raised by both parties, which allowed it to advance in the study of the other questions that it had on top of the table, admitting the PP's appeal for processing and urgently suspending the parliamentary processing of the two amendments.
The Prosecutor's Office believes that, "accepting the appearance of said parties, and also opening the process, and with this established the legal-procedural relationship that operated as an obstacle to the treatment of said issues", it is already "appropriate that the Plenary of the court address its treatment, prior to deciding on the Senate's claim and any other subsequent procedural step that must be carried out".
For the Public Prosecutor, "the unquestionable direct link of the aforementioned members of the Plenary with the object of parliamentary processing on which the appeal for amparo is projected (...) reasonably supports, 'a priori', said claim of recusal (. ..) because the automatic impact of said rule on the personal/professional situation of both is objectively unquestionable, should it be approved".
In his opinion, this circumstance, "regardless of any assessment of the psychological condition of those affected, constitutes an undeniable conditioning factor of the appearance of impartiality that has constantly and emphatically been invoking, as an essential factor, both the jurisprudence of the Court Supreme as that of the Constitutional Court itself".
However, the Prosecutor's Office regrets that it had to pronounce itself without being able to know the legal foundation of the decisions adopted last Monday by the TC, since at the moment only the operative part of the order has been disseminated, not its full content.
This, emphasizes the Public Prosecutor's Office, prevents it from "assessing with the desirable precision" not only "the basis of the impugning claim formulated by the procedural representation of the Senate, but also from the urgency that circumstantially occurs in the singular processing - inasmuch as it lacks of precedents in the appeal for parliamentary amparo--of the entire procedure".
This same afternoon, UP has presented its own allegations to also support the appeal of the Senate and once again request the abstention and, where appropriate, the recusal of González-Trevijano y Narváez, expressly requesting that it be studied before the challenge itself and that, this time, these magistrates do not participate in the debate on their eventual departure.
It should be remembered that, if the challenges were admitted, the balance of forces in the Constitutional Court would change. Currently, there is a conservative majority of 6 magistrates, including González-Trevijano and Narváez, and a progressive minority of 5, so if they are removed, the latter could prevail over the former.
The objective of the Senate, as reflected in its appeal, to which Europa Press has had access, is to try to arrive on time for its plenary session tomorrow, when the bill that initially included the amendments is scheduled to be debated and voted on. contested by the PP. If the TC now agrees, parliamentary sources explain that the Plenary session of the Upper House could be delayed so that the Justice Commission can re-incorporate them into the text.
