The Diplomat in Spain

The Diplomat

The European Commission’s Justice spokesman, Christian Wigand, warned yesterday that the resignation of the president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Carlos Lesmes, “reaffirms once again the urgency of finding a solution” to the renewal of the Council and the reform of the system for electing members.

“The latest developments reaffirm once again the urgency of finding a solution,” Wigand said during a press conference in Brussels. “Our position is well known: in the 2022 rule of law report we expressed clearly that the important thing is to proceed with the renewal of the council of the magistracy as a priority,” he added.

Lesmes formally tendered his resignation yesterday in order not to be “complicit” in the paralysis of the CGPJ, after urging the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to agree on a definitive solution to the “unsustainable situation” in which the Supreme Court and the CGPJ find themselves.

On September 29, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, warned before the Congress of Deputies that the Spanish political parties must agree to renew “as a priority” the General Council of the Judiciary in order to, “immediately after this renewal”, initiate the procedure for reforming the model of election of the members. Reynders’ position clashes with that of the Popular Party, which has asked that both the renewal of the CGPJ and the reform of the system be carried out at the same time.

The CGPJ has been in office since December 2018 because of the inability of the PP and PSOE to reach an agreement that would allow the renewal of the vowels. The blocking of the renewal of the Council is preventing the appointment of magistrates in high courts, such as the Supreme Court.