The Constitutional Court stops Sánchez's plan to control it

• Jurisprudence Judgments of the TC appreciated "democratic deficit" in maneuvers such as that of the judicial plan of the PSOE

• Government Podemos pressures the PSOE to disobey the Constitutional Court

In a scenario of unprecedented institutional crisis, the

agreed yesterday by a meager majority of its members to paralyze the legal reform promoted by the government parties in Parliament to change the operation of both the

and the General Council of the Judiciary by express means.

of the High Court.

By six votes to five, the Plenary agreed to uphold the very precautionary measure requested by the

parliamentary group and, consequently, stop the processing in the Senate of the two partial amendments introduced in the proposal for express modification of the Penal Code to reform the

and the

It was a long and intense plenary session where the six magistrates of the conservative block voted in favor of estimating the very precautionary measure requested by the popular group and, consequently, stopped the processing in the Senate of the two partial amendments introduced in the proposal for express modification of the Penal Code.

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The rule of law prevails

The rule of law prevails

Considering cold.

There are still six judges in Pedro Sánchez's Berlin

• Drafting: JORGE BUSTOS

There are still six judges in Pedro Sánchez's Berlin

For their part, the five magistrates of the progressive bloc voted against estimating the precautionary suspension of the amendments, considering that the court should not interfere in the parliamentary processing of a Law that was going to be approved by the Cortes.

They clung to the fact that it was an unprecedented interference in the functions of Parliament.

In its request for amparo, the PP alleged violation of article 23.2 of the Constitution, understanding that the right to political participation of its deputies has been violated.

The magistrates when granting a measure as exceptional as the very precautionary one -with null precedents in the guarantee court beyond an appeal during the process where Carles Puigdemont was prevented from appearing in Parliament but where the processing of no law - have heeded the doctrine emanating from the Strasbourg Court stating that the amparo must be effective and not merely declaratory.

In other words, the High Court, as the supreme interpreter of compliance with the Constitution, must act as an effective guarantor of the fundamental rights of citizens and, in this specific case, of the parliamentary minority.

If the very precautionary measure had not been considered now when the request for amparo was resolved in at least a year, those fundamental rights would already have been irreparably violated by the deputies.

consolidated doctrine

In this case, the consolidated jurisprudence in the High Court -the so-called

developed in resolutions STC 119/2011 and STC 136/2011- has weighed in the decision.

The doctrine is unequivocal in establishing that there is no room for amendments to the articles unrelated to the matter of the initiative.

The Constitutional Court has indicated in recent years in repeated sentences that the "right of equal access to public functions and positions incorporates, as an added guarantee, the right of parliamentarians and the groups in which they are part to exercise their functions in conditions of equality and within parliamentary legality, characterizing the ius in officium".

On the other hand, among the arguments in favor of granting for the first time a very precautionary measure of these characteristics, it has been found that the reforms that the socialists and purples intend to carry out affect the constitutional block.

In other words, it is not only a question of modifying organic laws, but one of the aspects that they want to reform of the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court -that the court be renewed by sixths instead of by thirds- affects the very letter of the Constitution.

The speaker of the order will be magistrate Enrique Arnaldo, appointed at the proposal of the Popular Party, and an expert in parliamentary law.

The vote on the very precautionary measure took place late this afternoon after the magistrates exposed their positions on the matter in the morning and the progressive bloc warned of the risks that were run if they did not depart from the processing of the same to the President

and

both challenged by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos.

The mere invocation of the appeal in plenary session generated some controversy among the magistrates.

Four magistrates from the progressive group

They voted against this measure as a sign of protest against the president calling the plenary session without the matter previously going through the Second Chamber of the High Court, legal sources indicate.

Vice President

who last week decided together with the president when the extraordinary meeting should be called, distanced himself from the bloc affiliated with the Government.

After the morning session, the plenary session resumed at 5:00 p.m. and the magistrates admitted the amparo appeal for processing.

Subsequently, the debate focused on the recusals.

The progressives relied on the doctrine of

that states that, before adopting any decision, the composition of the court must be examined in order to comply with the requirement of the appearance of impartiality of its members.

The recusals have not prospered since the conservative sector, the majority within the TC, has voted against.

By six votes to five again, the Plenary rejected to remove González-Trevijano and Narváez from the open procedure since they considered that the parliamentary groups -which lack legitimacy- were trying to spuriously alter the composition and sensitivity of the court.

In addition, the conservative sector of the TC defends that there are currently four of its members whose mandate has expired - González-Trevijano, Narváez but also Vice President

and magistrate

- and the leftist political forces only They have tried to remove the two who were appointed at the proposal of the Government of Mariano Rajoy.

individual votes

On the other hand, legal sources emphasize that the court modified its jurisprudence during the current mandate and toughened the requirements to admit challenges.

The conservative majority has understood that the president and magistrate Narváez do not have a direct interest in the case despite the fact that the legal modification was designed by Moncloa so that his magistrates could replace them even if the CGPJ remains without naming its own.

In addition, the court has assessed that greater rigidity should be required to separate its magistrates, since there are no substitutes in the TC.

There is no appeal against the ruling adopted by the court.

The suspension of the processing of the contested partial amendments is mandatory for the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.

The five magistrates of the progressive sector have announced the issuance of the particular vote.

They are Conde-Pumpido, Montalbán, Sáez, Xiol and Balaguer.

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• Articles Angela Martialay