The Diplomat
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, asked yesterday in Madrid, during a ceremony chaired by the King and attended by the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, that Spain address the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), as well as the modification of the system of election of its members, before the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which will begin on July 1.
“Your Majesty, in the case of Spain we recommend moving forward with the renewal of the CGPJ as a matter of priority, and initiating, immediately afterwards, the process to adapt the appointment of its judges to European standards,” said the commissioner during the presentation of the World Law Congress, to be held in New York on July 20 and 21. European standards establish that the political power should not intervene in the election of the members-judges of the Council. The CGPJ has twelve members of judicial origin (out of a total of twenty) who are ultimately elected by Congress and the Senate. In the Commissioner’s opinion, “it would be positive to implement this recommendation before the start of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in July”.
Likewise, Reynders reminded that next July the new report of the European Commission on the Rule of Law in the EU will be published, which includes the specific recommendations for each country and which will “monitor” compliance with these recommendations.
The Commissioner also warned that the Commission maintains a “dual approach” based, on the one hand, on dialogue with the State concerned, something that “unfortunately does not always bring results”, and, on the other hand, on “decisive actions”. Among the latter, he continued, are the launching of “infringement procedures (as was done with Poland in 2022)” and, “ultimately, recourse to the EU Court of Justice”. Besides, he warned, Brussels has new instruments for these cases, such as the conditionality of funds for recovery plans, as it did with Hungary also last year.
For his part, the King used his speech to recall that “democracy has been directly affected” by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to warn that “many parts of the world suffer the erosion of democracy”, so “it is urgent that we defend them” through “a work of all that can only be done with freedom”.
At the end of the ceremony, Felipe VI presented Andrew Young, an icon of civil rights in the USA, with the World Peace and Liberty Award, the prize awarded by the World Jurist Association – known as the Nobel Prize in Law – to personalities and institutions worldwide who have distinguished themselves for their commitment to the promotion of peace through law and the rule of law (historical winners include Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Felipe VI himself).
Young, born in the United States in 1932, is a historic diplomat and activist for civil and human rights and was the closest collaborator of Martin Luther King Jr, who died at his side. He also participated in the drafting of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in his country, and was appointed executive vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1968-1970), after King’s death.
A congressman from Georgia, in 1977 Young became the first African-American U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, by decision of then President James Carter. From that position, he promoted the protection of human rights and economic progress in the underdeveloped countries of the world and inspired the foreign policy of the White House. He also served as mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990, which enabled him to develop the city into the Host City for the 1996 Olympic Games.
“Young represents the values of the World Jurist Association. Throughout his professional career, he has been an example to humanity for his defense of the rule of law, and we are proud to present him with this award,” said WJA President Javier Cremades.
