The emerging tension between the judiciary and the Government is becoming more and more evident. The conservative block of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has shown its strength and majority and has forced to declare the appointment of the state attorney general inadequate for the first time. Álvaro García has not managed to obtain the approval of the body of judges, even if the report is only a formality and is not binding.
By eight votes to seven, the two blocs, conservative and progressive, completely divided, the Council has issued a report against García because it understands that he does not protect judicial independence, and specifically that of the prosecutor's office. It is a sign, in the opinion of the conservatives, of their patent lack of support for the prosecutors of the process, at a time when the impartiality of the judges has been called into question after the investiture agreement between the PSOE and Junts , in which mention is made of the investigation of legal proceedings linked to the lawfare.
Sources in the progressive sector recognize that the position of open confrontation with the Government is leading to the politicization of the body, at a very delicate moment because it is an institution that has been in office for almost five years due to the deadlock between the PP and the PSOE
Last year, in this same procedure, García obtained the endorsement of the CGPJ by twelve votes to seven when he went on to replace Delgado after having been his right-hand man as head of the technical secretariat of the Attorney General's Office the state. At that time it was considered that it met "the required legal requirements" for the In other words, they confirmed that García Ortiz was a lawyer of recognized prestige and with more than 15 years of professional practice. The report issued by the CGPJ is the step before the start of the process to ratify his appointment as the new head of the fiscal ministry. To complete it, he must then appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
However, Council sources explain that in this case it has not been limited to verifying that it meets the formal requirements, but has gone into the substance because it is a renewal and therefore it has been possible to analyze its action during this year as State Attorney General. The members opposed to his appointment have taken into account García's position of avoiding a statement in defense of the tax career on the lawfare, when both the prosecutors of the process and the majority of the race had requested it.
At the same time, the Supreme Court yesterday also dealt another blow to the Government after canceling the appointment of former socialist minister Magdalena Valerio as president of the Council of State. While socialist sources see in these movements a response to the latest events linked to the amnesty and the agreements with the pro-independence parties, the PP warns that we are facing an "unprecedented institutional collapse that affects judicial independence and international prestige" of Spain That is to say, for the party of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the judicial resolutions are the demonstration of the action contrary to the right of the Executive chaired by Pedro Sánchez.
In the matter of Valerio, the administrative contentious room of the High Court has annulled his appointment agreed by royal decree of October 31, 2022, given that he does not meet the requirement of "lawyer of recognized prestige" required by article 6 of the organic law of the Council of State.
The sentence, written by the president of the room, Pablo Lucas, considers an appeal from the Hay Derecho foundation. The magistrates explain that Valerio only meets one of the two requirements set by the aforementioned article of the law to preside over the Council of State, which is to have experience in matters of State, but not to be a jurist of recognized prestige. "The literal content of the sixth article is crystal clear - points out the room -: there are two conditions that must be met by whoever assumes the presidency of this body", he concludes
