Part of the members refuse to accept the successor appointed by the Technical Cabinet of the TS, Judge Francisco Marín Castán
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) will hold a plenary session on Thursday that will focus on addressing the consequences of the resignation of Carlos Lesmes as its president and that of the Supreme Court (TS), particularly in the debate on who should occupy his position on an interim basis, since a good part of the members refuse to accept the successor appointed by the Technical Cabinet of the TS, the magistrate Francisco Marin Castan.
Set for 4:30 p.m. this extraordinary plenary session was convened by Lesmes himself last week with the sole objective of facing the paralysis in the negotiations between the conservative and progressive sectors of the CGPJ to appoint the candidates to the Constitutional Court (TC) that is responsible for designating the governing body of the judges.
However, his resignation, announced on Sunday and formalized on Monday, due to the lack of progress in the talks between the PSOE and the PP to renew the CGPJ -which has now expired for almost four years- has pushed the problem of the two appointments to the TC to put more urgent issues on the table.
Thus, the progressive members have introduced a new item on the agenda to assess and, where appropriate, adopt the decisions that “legally proceed” after the departure of Lesmes.
The CGPJ sources consulted by Europa Press indicate that this second issue will be the one that focuses on the Plenary, since at the moment the members see it as a priority to resolve who should replace Lesmes.
The Technical Office of the TS, in a report commissioned by Lesmes himself in order to tie up the issue of succession, has established that He must be replaced in both positions by the same person: the Vice President of the Supreme Court, a position held by Marín Castán on an interim basis.
Lesmes defended this thesis both in the Supreme Court and in the Council and ratified it when communicating his resignation to King Felipe VI because he also told him that, “given the legal impossibility of proceeding with the appointment of a new president of the TS and the CGPJ , (…) the mechanism for replacing the president provided for in the law will be activated”.
The Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) determines, in its article 590, that “the vice president (of the Supreme Court) will exercise the position of president of the TS and the CGPJ in the legally foreseen cases of early dismissal of the president and until the appointment of a new president.
Possible bicephaly
Despite this, Most of the 18 members that currently make up the CGPJ resist what they consider an imposition from the Supreme that deprives the Council of participating in the election of the new head of the Judiciary.
Vocal critics believe that another possibility is that the oldest member of the CGPJ, Rafael Mozo -progressive-, temporarily fill the void left by Lesmeyes
To root both positions, the Judicial Power could be doomed to a bicephaly, with Marín Castán at the head of the Supreme Court and Mozo at the command of the CGPJa situation that would not be unprecedented but that would deepen the institutional crisis.
The pulse between Supreme and Council could end even prosecuted in the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the high court, which would be in charge of tipping the balance.
However, the truth is that, although the critical bloc with Marín Castán was practically unanimous when the threat of resignation of Lesmes began to gain strength, in recent days some members have lowered the tone betting on finding an “institutional” path.
input, it is most likely that Mozo will preside over this first plenary session of the post-Lesmes eraeven if only at the governmental level, until the CGPJ establishes a position on the landing of Marín Castán.
The negotiations
These sources also indicate that Until the succession issue is resolved, no progress will be made in the negotiations to propose two candidates for the Constitutional Court to cover half of the four vacancies that arose last June 12 in the court of guarantees.
The talks between the progressive and conservative interlocutors on this matter collapsed last week, after a third failed meeting. Then, the progressive party announced that it would be open to negotiating with other members -beyond those formally designated- with a view to convincing some ‘moderates’ and thus adding the four votes it needs to add the 12 required.
Added to the deadlock within the Council is the fact that Lesmes’s resignation has caused PSOE and PP have resumed contacts aimed at agreeing on a new CGPJwhich could fully impact the partial renewal of the TC.