The conservative member Vicente Guilarte will today take over the interim presidency of the General Council of the Judiciary - which is on its way to the five-year mark with the expired mandate -, after the previous incumbent, the progressive Rafael Mozo, retired yesterday. The change, which ultimately did not cause a new internal crisis, leaves the progressive minority even more weakened in the governing body of judges, with six members compared to the ten of the conservative sector, who have also regained – albeit temporarily – the presidency of the Council.
The succession was clear after all members decided to place Mozo at the head of the Judiciary following the resignation of Carlos Lesmes, in October. Mozo was the oldest member then, so the next person to take the position was the second oldest: Guilarte. However, the latter, unlike the outgoing president, does not belong to the permanent commission, so he was not required to dedicate himself "exclusively" to this task. For this reason, Guilarte combined his functions in the CGPJ with his jobs as a lawyer and university professor.
So that there was no room for doubt, and in the face of voices explaining that Guilarte intended to continue to make the two tasks compatible, six members - both from the conservative and progressive sectors - asked the plenary to take a position on this matter: that whoever is at the head of the Judiciary must do so exclusively. Yesterday it was precisely the affected person who adhered to the proposal of these six members, so it was agreed unanimously and without the need for a vote that the position should be held exclusively, as sources from the governing body of the judges reported yesterday.
Guilarte was appointed member of the Senate in December 2013. Born in Bilbao in 1953, he has practiced law since 1979. Professor of Civil Law at the University of Valladolid, he is the author of numerous monographs and doctrinal articles in specialized journals and director of several courses and research projects and doctoral theses.
For his part, Mozo yesterday said goodbye to all the workers of the CGPJ with a letter with several reproaches to the political forces that have been unable in almost five years to appoint new members. In the letter, he directly urged the "political forces" to "immediately" renew the governing body after the general elections are held next Sunday. A requirement that, as Mozo recalled, is not only included in the Constitution, but also warned by the European Union. The Commission, as expressed by Mozo in his letter, has already called for the CGPJ to be renewed "as a matter of priority" so that a process can subsequently be initiated to change the way members are elected.
For the interim president who is retiring, the prolongation in time of this situation and the "absence" of prospects for an agreement between the political forces to put an end to it, as well as the presentation of the resignation of president Carlos Lesmes, are facts that have generated "one of the saddest episodes in democratic history".
Mozo's departure is the fifth of the body that was set up in December 2013. Five years later it had to be renewed. Almost the same expired time has passed. In this time the CGPJ has gone from having 20 members plus the president to only 16, including the interim president. During this time, Rafael Fernández Valverde retired, Victoria Cinto died and Concepción Sáez and Carlos Lesmes resigned.
