Brussels asks Spain for the urgent renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary

• CGPJ A conservative will preside over Chamber III of the Supreme Court and two progressive judges will occupy the position in which they judge the graduates

The

will adopt this Wednesday its first

, a report that, in the case of Spain, mentions as challenges the delays suffered by judicial processes and the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) .

In addition, it echoes the criticisms and the "discussion" about the

, taking into account that the General Prosecutor is appointed by the Executive and that there is no obligation that the communications between the two are public.

A draft of the report, to which Europa Press has had access, does not include a general assessment or qualification of the rule of law in Spain, but is limited to making

, in many cases collected from previous reports of the Council of Europe, which is an institution outside the EU.

Nor does it issue any assessment on the declaration of the state of alarm on the occasion of the Covid-19 pandemic - a matter on which the PP sent a dossier to Brussels - and is limited to verifying that the

authorized six extensions and that the

can control whether the Executive exceeds its definition of emergency and the measures adopted.

These reports are an idea that

, today European Commissioner for Justice, began to launch in 2016, when the Polish government began to make controversial reforms and also at a time when echoes of Catalan secessionism were reaching Brussels.

The draft consulted does not make any reference to Catalonia.

When Brussels adopts the reports on Wednesday, the focus will be mostly on

.

In the case of Spain, it is an 11-page report, based on documentation of more than a hundred and based on virtual visits to 15 Spanish institutions, from Ministries to the Ombudsman, according to sources familiar with its preparation process.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation,

,

reported on this document

to the Council of Ministers this Tuesday, according to the published reference of the meeting.

The report confirms that the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is pending renewal and that its president,

, has warned that this "institutional anomaly" may discredit the body.

At this point, the Commission report is referred to the Council of Europe, which has made it clear that these facts confirm the importance of ensuring that the Council is not perceived as vulnerable to politicization.

Secondly, it points out that the relationship between the Attorney General and the Government is

and criticism, because it is the Executive who appoints the Prosecutor and, although he cannot remove him, his mandate ends with that of the Executive and that " it can affect the perception of independence ".

At this point, he again cites the Council of Europe because it has emphasized that, for there to be public confidence, it is important that the Prosecutor's Office is not only impartial, objective and free of interference, but also that it appears so.

It also recalls that that institution has recognized that the matter has been duly considered but that it has asked the authorities for substantive improvements to increase the autonomy of the Public Ministry, especially in relation to its communications with the Government.

Specifically, it points out that the law does not require that the Government's communications with the Prosecutor's Office be public, or that they be in writing.

Thus, she affirms that "it seems" that there is a practice of "publishing some of these communications as press releases on the website of the Ministry of Justice", although she adds that the actors in the judicial sphere underline the importance of this publicity

The text emphasizes that the judicial processes are increasingly long,

.

It also includes concerns about the impact of the state of alarm on delays and delays but adds that measures have been taken.

FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

On the other hand, a global framework is missing for those who complain about corruption - although it points out that the Government started working on one in June - and on

, something that has also caught the attention of the Council of Europe.

It also notes that in recent years Spain has strengthened its framework for the fight against corruption and points out that, although Spain does not have a global strategy against this scourge, the National Strategy against organized crime and serious crime of February 2019 has aiming to improve research capacity.

However, it collects that, according to the

, 94% of Spaniards consider that corruption is widespread, compared to 71 percent of the European average.

In terms of transparency, it points out that there are no homogeneous rules for the different levels of the Administration in matters of conflicts of interest, incompatibilities and advertising of goods and assets and that, according to a report by GRECO (Council of Europe) the

has financial and human resource problems.

Nor is there a single code of conduct for all those elected, although the Congress of Deputies adopted one in February 2019.

On the other hand, it indicates that the Constitution establishes freedom of expression and of the press and the right to information.

It also notes that

in this area.

The report also considers that the legislative process includes guarantees of transparency and that the Ombudsman has an "extensive" mandate that he can exercise in defense of the rights of citizens.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Spain

• General Council of the Judiciary

• European Comission

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