The Diplomat
Three of the most important associations of judges in Spain have approached the European Commission to warn that the current legislative reforms in the Judiciary pose a “serious risk to the rule of law”.
The Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM), the Association of Judges and Magistrates Francisco de Vitoria (AJFV) and the Independent Judicial Forum (FJI), which represent more than 2. 500 Spanish judges, have written to the Vice-President of the European Union for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourová, and the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, to express their “concern about the current outlook for judicial independence in Spain” and to “highlight the risk to which the rule of law in Spain is subjected due to the legislative drift of reforms of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) in process”.
“The first reform, already in force, foresees “a blackout and disempowerment” of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ)” by depriving it of the ability to appoint judicial positions while it is in office “and until its components (members) are renewed”, explains the letter.
The second reform envisaged, it continues, implies “a reduction of the majorities required in the Legislative Chambers for the appointment of the judicial members, so that the Government parties alone can decide the entire composition of the CGPJ”, it adds. This reform means replacing “the reinforced majority of three-fifths of the members of the Chambers that is required to elect the members of the CGPJ with an absolute majority, which would be achieved with the parties that support the Government, some of which openly encourage not to respect the Constitution”, the letter warns. “This is a law of subjugation of the Judiciary to the political parties that dominate at any given moment, which is the beginning of the road to totalitarianism, the undermining of human rights and corruption”, denounce the three associations.
According to the 2,500 judges represented in the letter, “at stake is the separation of powers and judicial independence, which is the support of the rule of law, as a guarantee of respect for human rights, inseparable from the values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, which are the foundations of our European Union; and as part of our spiritual and moral heritage of the European Union, founded on these indivisible values and based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)”.
Apart from that, “it constitutes a clear risk of a serious breach by Spain of the values referred to in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and, therefore, of Union law itself”. “Despite the fact that the Commission has already expressed its concern about the possible limitation of guarantees to judicial independence in Spain, the recommendations that have been proposed continue to be ignored and, unfortunately, it continues along the lines of gradually undermining judicial independence”, it adds.
Article 7 of the EU Treaty
Therefore, the signatory associations ask the Commission to urge the Spanish Government to bring its legislative reforms into line with the EU Treaty (TEU) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and that, “as a last resort and if the situation denounced is not remedied”, the procedure provided for in Article 7 of the TEU, which allows a Member State to be sanctioned for violating basic values of the European Union, should be initiated. “The European Commission, together with other institutions of the Union and its Member States, is responsible under the Treaties for ensuring respect for the rule of law as a fundamental value of our Union and for ensuring that EU law, values and principles are observed”, the letter adds.
On the other hand, the AJFV (one of the three signatory associations) yesterday regretted the support given by the PP to the letter sent to the Commission and recalled that “the main government and opposition parties in our country continue to ignore the recommendations and warnings of the European institutions”. “We are not going to allow one of the two main culprits of the blockage and politicking of the CGPJ on top of that to use it to conceal their responsibility”, it added.
Since the President of Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced in October 2020 his intention to reform the CGPJ to appoint its members without counting on the PP, the European Executive has closely followed the issue and has launched several warnings, pointing out that any judicial reform must be agreed with the relevant political actors and the Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe for legal and constitutional matters. Commissioner Jourová, one of the addressees of the letter, warned the Spanish government last January to avoid politicization in the reform of the judiciary and to respect its independence. The other addressee, Reynders, requested information from the Government regarding the initiative to limit changes to the CGPJ’s acting powers.
