The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has charged once morest the statements of the third vice president of the Government, Teresa Ribera, in which she questions the actions of the judge of the National Court Manuel García Castellón in the terrorism case once morest the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont . In a statement signed unanimously by the seven members of the permanent commission (four conservatives and three progressives), the body describes Ribera’s statements as “contrary to the principle of institutional loyalty” and “to the general duty to respect judicial independence.” . “The Permanent Commission considers that these demonstrations, insofar as they undermine the confidence of our fellow citizens in Justice and contribute to institutional deterioration, deserve a resounding rejection, especially if they interfere with an ongoing investigation of the events,” states the text signed by the main body of the Council following the plenary session.
The permanent meeting met this Friday followingnoon electronically at the request of three of the four conservative councilors who make up this commission (the fourth is the president of the CGPJ, Vicente Guilarte, to whom they have sent their request and who has accepted it ). The statement, signed by the seven members that make up it, includes an excerpt of the words spoken by Ribera in an interview on TVE following being asked regarding García-Castellón’s latest order, in which he insists on classifying the protests once morest the sentence of the process: “It has an important political implication and usually comes up at sensitive moments… There are some people… who have a certain fondness for always speaking in the same direction and at a particularly opportune moment compared to what tend to be the pronouncements of other colleagues within the exercise of judicial power,” said the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
The Permanente emphasizes its “most absolute respect for the right to freedom of expression,” but considers it “essential” to reaffirm that “the actions of the Judiciary, an essential institution in every democratic society, pursue at all times compliance with the Law and the defense of “the rights recognized to all Spanish citizens, the foundation of our Social and Democratic State of Law.” “The Permanent Commission understands that these manifestations are contrary to the principle of institutional loyalty, to the general duty to respect judicial independence inherent to a consolidated rule of law and member of the European Union, one of whose essential values is the separation of powers, essential to make the value Justice a reality, because only judges who are trusted by their fellow citizens will be able to provide the right to effective judicial protection for the prevalence of the common values of the Rule of Law,” the text states.
The members recall that the Permanent Party has already signed similar statements on the occasion of other statements by members of the Government referring to court actions. Although it does not cite cases, there have been several clashes between this body and the Executive. Some of them occurred during the Mariano Rajoy government, but the clashes increased following the formation of the first coalition government between the PSOE and Podemos. The first of these episodes occurred in January 2020, following the then leader of Podemos and vice president of the Government, Pablo Iglesias, criticized the actions of the Spanish justice system in the process. “Many European courts have ruled out our judges. That is a humiliation,” Iglesias said then. In October 2021, the Permanente acted in a similar way in response to a tweet from the then Minister of Social Rights and leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra, who questioned the Supreme Court’s conviction once morest the deputy Alberto Rodríguez (whom the Constitutional Court has given this week the reason).
In the majority of these cases, the Permanent Party has used a formula that it repeats in its writing this Friday: appealing to “moderation, prudence and restraint and institutional responsibility to avoid the political use of Justice or the questioning of independence, the impartiality and professionalism of the judges and magistrates that make up the Judicial Branch.”
Also this Friday, three magistrates from the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber of the National Court have come out in defense of García Castellón in the order by which they have rejected the appeal presented by the defense of Josep Lluís Alay, a friend of the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont and head of his office in Waterloo (Belgium), once morest three resolutions of the judge in the caso Tsunami issued last November. Judges Alfonso Guevara, Francisco Javier Vieira and Carlos Fraile consider that the allegations made by Alay in his appeal are “absolutely rejectable”, in which he attributed García Castellón’s decisions to “political motivation”. Puigdemont’s friend called these a “judicial response” to the investiture agreement between PSOE and Junts and the amnesty bill.
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