The president of the Judiciary asks judges not to yield to “influences, pressures or interferences”

MadridThe same week that Pedro Sánchez's judicial nightmare has been reactivated at the National Court, and just a few meters from where the former director general of the Civil Guard was testifying, under investigation in the Leire Díez case, the Supreme Court has kicked off the judicial year. Everyone knows –in Ferraz, in Génova, and in Moncloa– that the timing of justice will mark the final twists and turns of the legislative term, both due to the cases splashing the PSOE and the implementation of the amnesty. And one of the great protagonists has been the reprimands for the criticisms of judges: “It is not admissible for public disqualification to become an instrument of pressure,” proclaimed the president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Isabel Perelló. “If the disqualifications come from those who exercise institutional responsibilities, the gravity is greater,” she added.

Without saying it openly, Perelló alluded –for example– to the successive and repeated criticisms expressed by Pedro Sánchez and Minister Óscar Puente against the judges of the Begoña Gómez and David Sánchez cases. And she sent a message directly to the judges: “Our independence is the best guarantee that, when making a decision, we will do so without yielding to influences, pressures, or interference of any kind”.

The president of the CGPJ has demanded that the Spanish government respect the judiciary as a “true counterweight” to the other branches of the State, and has called for “respect” for judges to be “preserved,” even when there are disagreements. Just this week, Óscar Puente openly said that he distrusts the role of María Tardón, the judge who will investigate the massive entry of migrants into Ceuta at the National Court: “She comes from the political world [she was a PP councilor at the Madrid City Council from 1999 to 2003]. So far, she has shown signs that lead us to doubt her impartiality, of course,” he said. However, Pedro Sánchez acknowledged that María Tardón's “conjunctural political commitment” is “not incompatible” with her duties as a judge.

Likewise, Perelló has warned that accusations of lawfare could be criminal, when it is suggested that a judge may be making decisions for political reasons. Finally, she sent a message that can be understood as an implicit reproach to Juan Carlos Peinado, who has investigated the Spanish president's wife for more than two years and has left her one step away from the dock. Months after Peinado's decision to withdraw her passport, the president of the CGPJ has asked judges to have “restraint,” to think about the “transcendence that their decisions can have” and to have “prudence” in their public interventions.

A “systematic disqualification” against the Public Prosecutor's Office

The one who has debuted has been Álvaro García Ortiz, Attorney General of the State since 2022. Teaming up with Isabel Perelló, it has been the first year in history in which two women have intervened in the opening of the judicial year. Peramato said that corruption “erodes citizens' trust in institutions” and “distorts the proper functioning of public powers”, and demanded the “maximum rigor, independence and determination” from the Public Prosecutor's Office to investigate and prosecute these behaviors, “particularly when they affect 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 responded to the criticism 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 the Spanish president, which have moved forward only with the impulse of popular accusations. “Spurious motivations are gratuitously attributed where there is only a legal assessment, distinguishing between good and bad prosecutors depending on whether the procedural position they adopt suits one side or the other”, she lamented.

On the other hand, Peramato also called for strengthening “all mechanisms for prevention, detection, protection and assistance to 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 was learned that in Andalusia the PP has left the assessment service for victims of sexist violence in the hands of Vox. Peramato used the speech to heap 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 the Public Prosecutor's Office to be assigned the direction of criminal investigations, and stressed that the proposal for a new Statute of 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.