Who is the new Attorney General of the State?

MadridCoinciding with November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Spanish government responded to the Supreme Court's disqualification of the Attorney General with a highly symbolic nomination. Teresa Peramato (Salamanca, 1962), a progressive and feminist prosecutor who has dedicated her career to combating gender-based violence, will take over from Álvaro García Ortiz, who was convicted on November 20th, the 50th anniversary of Franco's death. "Peramato is a career prosecutor with 35 years of experience and enjoys the unanimous recognition of legal professionals," sources at La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's official residence) explained regarding her selection. Peramato currently serves as the Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court and is the Delegate Prosecutor for the Protection and Guardianship of Victims in Criminal Proceedings. The Spanish government has highlighted her "extensive career, especially in the fight against gender violence." "She is considered one of the leading figures in judicial specialization in this area," they emphasize. In 2005, Peramato was appointed delegate prosecutor for the section on violence against women in the Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office and, in 2021, she was promoted to senior prosecutor specializing in violence against women. The Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, has emphasized that she "played a significant role" in the implementation of the law against gender violence passed in 2004. One of Peramato's key campaigns has been the specific criminalization of vicarious violence, that perpetrated by the aggressor in the context of unfinished business. The future Attorney General has also declared her support for the controversial law on... Only yes means yes, promoted by the Ministry of Equality, headed by Irene Montero. "The law contributes many things because it establishes affirmative consent as a fundamental principle and, therefore, shifts the burden that previously fell on victims to prove that they opposed and resisted," she argued in 2022.

"Continuity" line

While no critical voices were raised regarding Peramato's professional merit, and she was widely praised for her "commitment to equality" and her legal expertise, the fact that she is, like her predecessor, a member of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF) did generate suspicion among the right wing. In fact, she presided over this minority association within the public prosecutor's office from 2019 to 2021. This shared connection, which she also shares with Dolores Delgado, the former minister and former attorney general whom she replaced after García Ortiz, as well as the fact that Peramato was promoted to senior prosecutor—the highest rank in the PP—by Delgado herself, has led to her being disparagingly described as "continuity." "She has a very similar profile to her predecessor," criticized the Independent Professional Association of Prosecutors (APIF), the private prosecution in the trial against García Ortiz.