The members appointed at the proposal of the PP who asked to deal again with the politicization of justice consider the agreement insufficient
The Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary hagreed this Tuesday to reiterate its frontal rejection of the constitution of parliamentary investigation commissions that could reach to establish responsibilities derived from the so-called ‘lawfare’ and has warned that it will remain vigilant, in defense of judicial independencein relation to the development of these commissions.
The holding of the meeting has been held at the request of three of the members of the conservative sector who are part of this body: Ángeles Carmona, Carmen Llombart and José Antonio Ballestero, after the Board of the Congress of Deputies has approved the constitution of two investigative commissions that will deal with the jihadist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in August 2017 and the so-called “Operation Catalonia”.
The agreement that adds a paragraph to the agreement signed on November 9 has been approved with the casting vote of the president of the CGPJ, the member Vicente Guilarte, after this and the members appointed at the proposal of the PSOE Roser Bach and Mar Cabrejas expressed their support for the text. José Antonio Ballestero, Ángeles Carmona and Carmen Llombart have voted against and have announced the formulation of a dissenting vote considering that the agreement is insufficient and needs to be expanded. The member Pilar Sepúlveda has voted blank
This body already ruled on the alleged existence of a dirty judicial war against the independence movement on November 9, after learning of the agreement signed between PSOE and Junts that included the term lawfare and alluded to the work of certain investigative commissions in Congress. On that occasion, the members charged against the “the inadmissible references” to the judicialization of politics and shared their “frontal rejection” to these allusions in line with what was expressed in the same sense by the conservative Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM), the Francisco de Vitoria Association of Judges and Magistrates, the progressive Judges for Democracy and the minority Independent Judicial Forum.
The added paragraph says “the Permanent Commission adds that the General Council of the Judiciary will remain vigilant, in defense of judicial independence, in relation to the development of the aforementioned parliamentary investigation commissions.”
In their request, the conservative members now alluded to “statements by political representatives in recent days” and the creation of investigative commissions, in clear allusion to those that will be developed by ‘Operation Catalonia’ or the 17-A Attacks. Likewise, they mentioned in their petition the “presentation of surprising complaints that form and prepare a unacceptable and unjustified climate of agitation and propaganda against judges and magistrates”.