Felipe VI defends judicial independence: "Everyone must preserve and respect it"

Urges to respect judicial rulings and equality before the law, "indispensable in a democracy"

BARCELONA, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Before the new judges, King Felipe VI has vindicated the independence of Justice as the "essence of the Rule of Law" and has defended equality before the law as one of the "indispensable conditions in a democracy" like the Spanish one.

"The independence of the Judiciary as an institution is essential for the proper functioning of our democracy, as well as that of each judge in the exercise of their jurisdictional function," said the monarch during his speech at the ceremony of handing over offices to the new judges, the 160 members of the LXXII Promotion of the Judicial Career, held in Barcelona.

Don Felipe has claimed that the Judiciary is a key piece in the institutional architecture designed in the Constitution, and has recalled that judging and executing what is judged is an "exclusive" function of this power, which he has defined as independent and fully separated from the other powers of the State.

"Respect for the resolutions issued by judicial bodies and the equality of all before the law are essential conditions in a democracy," he pointed out.

"Without justice, and above all without independent justice, the concept of a democratic political community would not truly exist," he stressed, emphasizing that the Constitution advocates justice as a superior value of the legal system.

The King has warned the new judges that they must preserve the social and democratic State of law proclaimed in the Constitution: "It will therefore be your main obligation. Its conquest was a long-awaited aspiration of the Spanish people and its full validity is essential for our economic and social development"

He has also addressed the new judges to warn them that in their work they must "adopt decisions that in many ways affect people's lives, their freedom, honor, dignity" and their rights, and he has told them that they will only be able to do so if they are guided with rigor and remain firm in their honorability and independence.

On the other hand, he stressed that they are also European judges, and reminded them that their work "is also essential to ensure the effectiveness and application of Community law, as well as respect for the values ​​on which the Union is based."

"The European institutions will also be attentive to your role and your performance, and therefore the responsibility you acquire is even greater," he warned.

"You are, in short, the best expression that the judges prepared by the School are those formulated by the Constitution: independent, immovable, responsible and subject only to the rule of law," he told the 160 new judges who receive their offices.

He congratulated them for entering the profession and encouraged them to continue training: "Professional improvement is not only the best investment for the future, but - above all - a commitment that you acquire with society, which has entrusted you with the relevant responsibility of administering justice".

He has also urged them to have the Constitution as the guiding criterion for all their decisions, he has said that the Magna Carta is the origin of the system of freedoms and also "a framework for coexistence between Spaniards, key to the stability and prosperity of the country and, especially, a guarantee of the supreme values ​​of a free society, among which is justice".