The attorney general demands “rigor, independence and determination” to fight against corruption

MadridOne more year, the Supreme Court hosts a solemn act to kick off the judicial year. It has done so the same week that Pedro Sánchez's judicial nightmare has been reactivated at the National Court, and a few meters from where the former Director General of the Civil Guard, under investigation in the Leire Díez case, was testifying. Everyone knows – in Ferraz, in Génova, and in Moncloa – that the timing of the justice system will mark the next steps and the final ups and downs of the legislature, both due to the cases splashing the PSOE and the application of the amnesty. The one who has debuted has been Teresa Peramato, who has been Attorney General of the State since the month of November. Teaming up with Isabel Perelló, the president of the General Council of the Judiciary, this has been the first year in history in which two women have intervened in the opening of the judicial year.

During her speech, Teresa Peramato denounced that corruption “erodes citizens' trust in institutions” and “distorts the proper functioning of public powers” and demanded “maximum rigor, independence, and determination” from the public prosecutor's office to investigate and prosecute such conduct, “particularly when it affects authorities or officials who take advantage of the responsibilities inherent to their position.” She did not mention him, but the name of José Luis Ábalos resonated on the walls of the Supreme Court's plenary hall.

The Attorney General of the State also addressed the criticisms that some prosecutors receive. The PP, for example, has been attacking the prosecutors in the cases of Begoña Gómez and David Sánchez for some time, who from the first day have been in favor of archiving the cases against the wife and brother of Pedro Sánchez, which have moved forward only with the impulse of the popular accusations. She lamented that there is a “systematic disqualification” and that an “image that does not correspond to reality” is projected onto the institution. “Spurious motivations are gratuitously attributed where only a legal assessment exists; a distinction is made between good and bad prosecutors depending on whether the procedural position they adopt suits one side or another,” she said. And she reiterated that prosecutors always act with “exclusive subjection” to the law.

On the other hand, Teresa Peramato has called for strengthening “all mechanisms for the prevention, detection, protection, and assistance of victims” of gender-based violence and creating the “necessary conditions” so that they can “report with safety and confidence.” The words come a month after it became known that in Andalusia, the PP has left the assessment service for victims of sexist violence in the hands of Vox. And she took the opportunity to shower praise on the reforms promoted by Minister Félix Bolaños, which place Spain, in her view, before a “historic opportunity.” After celebrating the implementation of the instance courts, she showed her “firm support” for assigning the direction of criminal investigations to the Public Prosecutor's Office – a “requirement of institutional rationality” that “strengthens guarantees” – and she stressed that the proposal for a new Statute for the Public Prosecutor's Office is an “important step forward” and a “bold bet.” However, it is highly unlikely that both projects will see the green light in Congress.

María Tardón will investigate the massive entry into Ceuta

This year the event arrives three days after the National Court decided to open an investigation into the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta. The judge who has taken charge of the case is María Tardón, who was a PP councilor at the Madrid City Council from 1999 to 2003. This – added to the fact that she prevented the Spanish police from informing the Spanish government about the report she sent to them– caused the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, to say that he distrusted her role: “She is a judge who comes from the political world. Taking into account everything we are seeing, until now she has given signs that lead us to doubt her impartiality, of course,” he said.

However, these are misgivings that Pedro Sánchez does not share. In an interview with TVE, the Spanish president limited himself to admitting that the judge's political past was an “objective fact,” but he stressed that her “current political commitment is not at odds” with her duties as a judge.

With the amnesty on the horizon

Once again, the event will also be marked by the amnesty law and the Supreme Court's refusal to apply it to the leaders of the 'Procés'. Compared to twelve months ago, the two major changes that have occurred are the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union endorsing the regulation and the Supreme Court's decisions to amnesty in a cascade the cases it had pending. But the cases of Carles Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras and company remain as they were.

Mind you, their outcome will begin to be set in motion on September 22. The Constitutional Court will kick off the deliberation on the appeal for protection (recurso de amparo) filed by Jordi Turull. The rapporteur is the conservative José María Macías, and therefore everything suggests that the progressive majority will strike down his likely proposal to reject the appeal. This will lead to having to change the rapporteur and resolving the issue in the month of October. The Constitutional Court's forecast is to address Carles Puigdemont's appeal before the end of the year. Afterwards, it will be Manuel Marchena and Pablo Llarena who will have the final say.