The PSOE registers this Friday a bill so that the Council of the Judicial Power can appoint the two Constitutional magistrates that correspond to it even while they are in office
La Moncloa, before the Andalusian elections, already warned that it was analyzing “all the options & rdquor; to achieve renewal of constitutional Court in case the PP maintains the blockade in the General Council of the Judicial Power (CGPJ). Now, after the polls on 19-J, you have already decided which formula is what you will use. And it will activate it imminently, this very Friday: it will be a legal reform, so that the governing body of the judges can appoint the two magistrates of the TC that it must appoint even if it continues in office. In this way, it will be possible to proceed to the complete replacement of the third of the High Court whose mandate expired June 12 without doubts about the legality of the procedure or blockages by the current members of the TC.
The Socialist Group registers this Friday, June 24, a bill in the Congress of Deputies very simple: reform of the article 570 bisto add a new point, from the Organic Law of the Judiciary of 1985just like advanced ‘elDiario.es’ and sources from the PSOE leadership confirmed to this newspaper. What the new wording of 570 bis of Law 6/1985 allows is that if the CGPJ’s mandate has expired, it may continue to appoint the candidates for the two corresponding TC positions. With that, partially reverses the last modification promoted by the Executive in March 2021: Just to force the renewal of the CGPJ, PSOE and United We Can promote that, once it takes office, it is prohibited from making appointments to the judicial leadership. That change, by the way contested by the opposition, is the one that has now tied the Executive’s hands and feet to achieve the update of the TC.
The Socialists previously informed United We Can. As the reform is organic in nature, it will require an absolute majority of both Chambers
Now therefore undo the March 2021 amendment via bill, a different and faster alternative. Being a reform launched from a parliamentary group, there is no need for reports from the advisory bodies, which is what would be necessary if the author of the text was the Government —and then we are talking about a bill—. In addition, the intention of the PSOE, as pointed out by Ferraz and from the parliamentary leadership, is that the processing is urgent and in a single reading (no possibility of introducing amendments), so his calculation is that it can be approved in July. The Socialists previously informed their partners of United We Can about the initiative. Being organic in nature, it will need an absolute majority in Congress and the Senate, which will require the Executive to negotiate with the groups.
The PSOE registers this Friday in Congress a legal reform that returns the renewal of the TC to the CGPJ in office https://t.co/It6r02JvpH pic.twitter.com/OKByoReB9y
– Europe Press TV (@europapress_tv) June 23, 2022
The legal discussion
In this way, it would be possible to fulfill the article 159.3 of the Constitution, which requires that the renewal of the TC be done by thirds. The one that plays now, corresponding to the quota of four magistrates whose mandate expired on June 12, implies that the Government has to name its two candidates and the CGPJ, the other two. Thus, the political sign of the High Court would be reversed: from a conservative majority of seven to five it would go to a progressive majority also of seven to five.
This express change is the “safest” formula for the Socialists, since the renewal of the two members that touch the Government could be stopped from the outset by the TC itself
The decision to activate this route, that of legal reform, was adopted this week, after the Andalusian elections, and was finalized this Thursday. It was the “safest” formula, sources from the parliamentary leadership indicated to this newspaper, since it guarantees that the renewal of the TC can take place smoothly. And it is that the alternative of a replacement of only two magistrates, those appointed by the Government (without those indicated by the CGPJ, as it is prohibited to do so according to the 2021 modification), was risky and was not accepted unanimously by the experts, given that the Magna Carta speaks of thirds. The Government, however, had sought precedents and constitutional jurisprudence: the 1980 casewhen the Constitutional Court was formed with ten magistrates, including the two appointed by the Executive, because the first CGPJ of democracy had not yet been formed, and the ruling 191/2016by which the TC admitted that the members of the Judiciary could be renewed, which one Chamber must vote even if there is a blockade in the other.
An appointment by the brave, without waiting for the CGPJ, was in danger of being stopped at first, since the high court, mandatory, has to authorize the new incorporations and verify that the requirements are met. The TC had already warned that the renewal it had to be produced in an “integral” way.. In addition, a sure recourse from the opposition could make the appointments end up being annulled. Consequently, what the Executive does is opt for an alternative somewhat longer but without so many obstacles.
What is the process now? The PSOE registers the bill first thing this Friday, which the Table of the Lower House will admit for processing next Tuesday, June 28. The Socialists calculate that it could be taken into consideration in the plenary session that could be convened for the second week of July (in which the debate on the state of the nation would be included).
Message to the PP
By choosing the urgent procedure and in a single reading, the text does not go through a presentation and commission and would be approved in the plenary session of Congress that same week. From there I would go to Senate, which could endorse the proposal the following week, and from there, as there will be no changes, it would go to the BOE. The Council of Ministers could designate the new magistrates at the end of July or the beginning of August, but for this the CGPJ would have to designate its two candidates at the same time. In the leadership of the Socialist Group they fear that the governing body of the judges may articulate some delaying maneuver and let the summer pass to comply with the procedure.
The relay in the TC, when it is completed, will leave a 7-5 majority in favor of the progressives. The president and vice president and two magistrates will leave the institution
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Of this renewal, when completed, three conservative magistrates would leave the institution (the current president of the court, Pedro González-Trevijano, Antonio Narváez and Santiago Martínez-Vares) and a progressive (the vice president, Juan Antonio Xiol). They will be replaced by three progressives and one conservative, since the CGPJ always appoints one of each orientation.
The Executive had already made it clear in recent weeks that it was not going to accept any more delays by the PP, because the CGPJ has been in office for more than three and a half years with the mandate expired (since December 2018). Genoa’s latest movement irritated Moncloa even more: the interlocutor appointed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Esteban González Pons, announced on June 13 that his party would raise its proposal for & rdquor; regeneration & rdquor; of Justice along with his idea of renewing the Judiciary. Pedro Sánchez has opted for accelerate the relief in the TC without waiting for the PP to decide. The fear was that the popular leadership would choose to stretch the times, once again.