The CGPJ again postpones the appointments of the key chambers of the Supreme Court

The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) yesterday agreed on thirty appointments to the top of the judiciary, including that of conservative judge Juan Manuel Fernández as the new president of the National Court. However, it postponed – once again – the appointment of the presidents of the Criminal and Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court, two key positions for which no names have been found to unblock the situation given the discrepancies between the progressive and conservative blocs of the governing body of the judges.

The agreement to carry out the 30 appointments (23 from the ordinary jurisdiction and seven from the military) was made on Tuesday night, during the plenary session held yesterday, according to legal sources. The president of the CGPJ, Isabel Perelló, made a move a few days ago and decided to include the appointments of the Civil, Criminal, Contentious-Administrative and Social chambers of the Supreme Court on the agenda, despite the lack of consensus.

The agreement to carry out the 30 appointments (23 from the ordinary jurisdiction and seven from the military) was made on Tuesday night

The talks have since accelerated but have not been sufficient to unblock the four appointments, even though the obstacle lies in two of them: the Criminal Chamber, in charge of investigating and, where appropriate, prosecuting those with immunity, which includes members of the Government, senators and deputies, among other high-ranking officials, such as the Attorney General of the State; and the Contentious-Administrative Chamber, which is in charge of controlling the legality of the Executive's decisions through the appeals that are filed.

The tense situation is as follows: the progressive members are betting on Ana Ferrer and Pilar Teso for the Second and Third Chambers, respectively; while the conservatives want those who already occupy these positions on an interim basis to continue: Andrés Martínez Arrieta and Pablo Lucas.

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Given the lack of consensus, the plenary session of the CGPJ decided to advance, at least, the appointments of the conservative magistrate Ignacio Sancho, the only candidate for the post, as president of the Civil Chamber, and the progressive Concepción Ureste as president of the Social Chamber of the High Court.

In the National Court, Juan Manuel Fernández was appointed president over other candidates such as María Tardón, Enrique López and Eloy Velasco. In addition, the CGPJ appointed the veteran judge Alfonso Guevara as president of the Criminal Division of the National Court and the progressive judge Manuela Francisca Fernández de Prado as president of the Appeals Division of the same court. In its Social and Contentious-Administrative Divisions, Ramón Gallo and Fernando Luis Ruiz were appointed presidents, respectively.