The progressive wing of the CGPJ meets again on Tuesday to assess a resignation en bloc that forces the renewal

The questions raised turn the possible collective resignation into a movement that is more symbolic than practical.

MADRID, 24 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The members of the progressive sector of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) have held a first meeting this Friday to assess a possible resignation en bloc that forces the renewal of the institution --expired since December 4, 2018--, although It has only served to open the debate, so they have been reconvened for next Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

According to the sources of the governing body of the judges consulted by Europa Press, the meeting on March 24 has been a first approximation, since only 5 of the 8 progressive members have been able to participate --Rafael Mozo, Álvaro Cuesta, Clara Martínez de Careaga, Pilar Sepúlveda and Concepción Sáez--, missing Mar Cabrejas, Roser Bach and Enrique Lucas.

At the moment, the only point of agreement within the progressive bloc is that it is "unacceptable" that the CGPJ continues without renewal, after more than four years in an interim situation and several frustrated attempts at political agreement.

However, on the molar question, the possible resignation of the 8 members, there is still no internal consensus, so it is expected that contacts will take place during the next week with the key date of the ordinary plenary session on Thursday, where this will be addressed matter, already with the presence of the 10 conservative members.

For now, the doubts outweigh the certainties among the progressive members, so the question they are trying to answer at this time is to what extent it would be in their hands to "stimulate" the renewal of the CGPJ, thus pointing to one more resignation symbolic than practical.

The initiative, which started from Cuesta as a result of Sáez's resignation --not yet accepted--, could paralyze the CGPJ, currently made up of 18 members (8 progressives and 10 conservatives) because the regulations establish that to constitute the Plenary there must be a minimum of 11:10 plus the president, now Mozo.

However, the question of the 'quorum' is not without debate. From the conservative sector it is warned that this essential minimum could be lowered to only 10 members if it is considered that Mozo, being in the position on an interim basis due to the resignation of Carlos Lesmes on October 9, is one more member.

The conservative wing also indicates that, even in the event that a plenary session could not be formed, the CGPJ could continue working with its Permanent Commission, in accordance with the internal regulations, but this point also raises questions, because it is not clear that it can operate without the president of the CGPJ.

The conservatives also warn that their progressive peers could commit a crime of abandonment of public service if they resign. From the progressive block, this scenario is completely ruled out, because they have been holding the position on an interim basis for four years, as well as because of the Lesmes precedent.

Thus, from both sides they recognize numerous doubts of a legal nature, although they agree that the resignation of the 8 progressive members would be a coup de effect in the context of an increasingly deteriorated CGPJ, due to its interim situation and the tensions internal.

In any case, the sources emphasize that the tectonic movement would take place after the CGPJ had finalized the appointment of the judicial members of the provincial electoral boards for the elections on May 28, a process that culminates on April 4. .

In this way, the regional and municipal elections would be guaranteed, but not the general elections that are scheduled to be called at the end of this year. For the latter, a CGPJ would be needed that can form a plenary session and fulfill its electoral obligations.

The sources also stress that, although the decision to resign is individual, it would only make sense if it were done jointly, both because of the symbolism and the practical consequences.

At the moment, Mozo only has on the table the resignation letter that Sáez sent him on March 13 and that was known last Wednesday. The interim president plans to reveal in plenary session on the 30th if he accepts or rejects it.

In the letter, to which this news agency has had access, Sáez proposes his resignation as "inescapable." In the first place, because the CGPJ has expired for more than four years.

Sáez explains that, "due to an excessive and perhaps mistaken sense of responsibility", he has been "enduring the passing of the months and years, not without restlessness or discomfort", but that "at this moment it is difficult to predict when and how it will be resolved this long crisis that is causing so much delegitimization on the image of our judicial system".

Secondly, the vowel points to "the inability to make certain decisions in the ordinary exercise of the powers of this body while calling for the recovery of improper powers of a Council in office", something that it says has ended by " exhaust" his "patience".

"I consider my continuity legally and politically useless in this scenario of radical and perhaps already irreversible degradation of the institution," concludes Sáez, appointed at the proposal of Izquierda Unida.

For their part, in the conservative sector, although there are quite a few who express the same feeling of being fed up with their temporary position, they rule out resigning, considering that it would cause greater problems, especially in the ordinary management of the Judiciary (departures, payroll, service commissions , etc), to which they add that the solution must be provided by the political forces, not the members themselves.