The judicial power is bleeding with appearances of a worse scenario during the rest of the year. There are already 80 vacancies in the Supreme Court, the higher courts and the hearings.
These positions cannot be filled due to the blockage in the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). The scenario of denial by the Popular Party and the movements of the PSOE to deal with the situation has led to an absolute deadlock with the consequent collapse of the judicial bodies, mainly in the Supreme Court.
According to the data provided by the governing body of judges to Efe, there are currently 22 vacancies in the Supreme Court, 33 in the higher courts, 24 in the provincial courts and one in the National Court.
Until now, this room was the only one that had not suffered layoffs either due to retirement or death or leave, unlike others, such as those of the Administrative Disputes and the Social Room, which are the most affected today.
The reason for this collapse is that in 2021 the parties that form the coalition Government pushed for a reform of the organic law of the judicial power by which it is forbidden to make appointments - which affect the high courts - to the body of government of judges while its members are, as has been the case since 2018, in office.
The aim of this measure was to pressure the PP to renew the Council once the wings of the conservative majority of the body were clipped. But this did not take effect and its consequences are now, as the Supreme Court itself has warned several times, the "collapse" of the court.
Sources from this court make a pessimistic x-ray of the situation. Their calculation is that, for example, in the Social Chamber – the one that reviews dismissals, leave, maternity and paternity rights or employment regulations, among others – if they stopped right now enter resources, it would take time to resolve those that have already been in the queue for nearly three years.
These sources explain that they expect the Ministry of Justice to authorize the sending of more lawyers to help the magistrates expedite the appeals. The Supreme Court estimates that in 2023 around 1,230 fewer judgments will be handed down between the Disputes Chamber and the Social Chamber.
The reason is that in Contentious there are 12 vacant places, while in Social there are five less. The current scenario does not cease to have ridiculous aspects. While the central government maintains that the CGPJ is delegitimized after being in office for more than four years, the body recalls that the situation derives from the inability of the two main political formations to appoint members, because as the your obligation
Both the PSOE and the PP see impossible a negotiation before the general elections, so the situation will at least remain until 2023, which will leave more vacancies due to the upcoming retirements of magistrates.
At the same time, the Constitutional Court (TC) has until 2021 to resolve the appeals raised against the reform that limits the functions of the CGPJ. Sources of the Supreme Court are extremely critical of the guarantees body because it depends on it to end the "bleeding" that is going on, although they are confident that they will be able to resolve the situation. If the TC declared the reform unconstitutional, the Council could resume the appointments. The court will not review this case until June.
