Reynders calls for various options for the reform of the election of the members of the General Council of the Judiciary

The DIplomat The EU Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders, stated yesterday that reforming the system of election of the judicial members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) “is not an obligation” but “a recommendation”, although he hoped that the CGPJ would present “different options” so that there could also be a political agreement on this point. “This is not an obligation, it is a recommendation”, said the commissioner in the press conference he offered after meeting with the president of the CGPJ and the Supreme Court (TS), Isabel Perelló; with the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños; and with the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, within the framework of his visit to Spain, reports Europa Press. Reynders arrived in Madrid with the intention of following up on the agreement reached last June by PSOE and PP with the mediation of Brussels to renew the CGPJ, which included that within six months the new Council would issue a report with its proposal to reform the system of election of the 12 members who come from the judicial career. Asked about this, he explained that the European Commission hopes that "before" next February 2, when the six months are up -counted from the last reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ), where part of what was agreed by the socialists and populars is included-, the CGPJ will make its proposal to bring the Spanish model closer to "the best European standards". In this sense, Perelló and the members Alejandro Abascal and Bernardo Fernández -with whom he also met- conveyed to him the desire of the CGPJ to deliver the proposal of the governing body of the judges within the expected time frame. Reynders pointed out that the ideal would be for the CGPJ to give “different options” for reform because when it comes to a political agreement it is always “easier” to reach it if there are alternatives on the table. However, he specified, once this proposal has been formulated and submitted to the Cortes Generales, it is up to them to decide. Hence, the reform of the system of election of judicial members is a “recommendation”, not an “obligation”. He also recalled that the European standards towards which the Spanish model, and that of the other member states, must move is that “a majority” of the members of the CGPJ are elected by their peers.

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