The Government seeks to unblock the renewal of the TC by lowering the majority that is required of the CGPJ to appoint magistrates

The members of the governing body of the judges who insist on the blockade will incur criminal responsibilities

The PSOE and Unidas Podemos have taken advantage of their proposed law to abolish the crime of sedition to present two amendments aimed at forcing the unblocking of the renewal of the Constitutional Court and specifically the two positions that correspond to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ): for On the one hand, the majorities in the Council to appoint magistrates will be lowered and, on the other, criminal responsibilities will be imputed to the members who prevent the appointments.

One of the amendments involves reforming Organic Law 6/1985 of the Judiciary to change the three-fifths majority that the CGPJ must add in the election of the two Constitutional magistrates that correspond to it, so that now a simple majority will suffice in the Advice.

In addition, mandatory deadlines are established to force the CGPJ to fulfill its mandate to appoint two TC magistrates. Thus, a new wording of article 599.1.1 of the Law on the Judiciary will set a limit of five business days: first, the members of the Council will have two days to propose to the Presidency candidates for magistrate, with a maximum of one per head, and then the Presidency will have three business days to "convene an extraordinary plenary session to proceed with the election of the two magistrates."

In plenary, the candidacies will be submitted to a vote by the members present, without the obligation of a minimum quorum and a single vote that will not be secret. Thus, each member will be able to vote for a single candidate, with the two magistrates who have obtained the greatest number of votes being elected, and not three fifths of those cast, as was the case up to now.

Both the socialist Patxi López and the president of the Unidas Podemos group, Jaume Asens, trust that these changes will allow these appointments to be unblocked, which the CGPJ should have resolved in September.

In addition, to ensure renewal, a clause has been added indicating that, in the event that the members or the president of the CGPJ insist on the blockade, responsibilities "of all kinds, including criminal" will be incurred.

The second amendment will modify the Organic Law 2/1979 of the Constitution so that, if after the 9 years and 3 months of mandate of the magistrates proposed by the CGPJ and by the Government, "one of these two bodies would not have made their proposal" , there will be "the renewal of the magistrates appointed by the body that has fulfilled its constitutional duty." In this way, PSOE and Podemos end the unit of the third of the TC that corresponds to appoint the Government and the CGPJ, two magistrates from each institution.

Likewise, the need for verification by the Constitutional Court of the new magistrates is eliminated. According to a new section to article 19 of the Constitutional Law, it will be the proposing institutions (Congress, Senate, CGPJ and the Government) who are obliged to verify that the elected magistrates meet the requirements. At the same time, a new cause for dismissal is included, according to the amendment, "for not complying with the requirements set forth in article 159.2 of the Constitution."

With these changes, the Government overcomes all the obstacles to be able to name its two candidates for the TC, the former minister Juan Carlos Campo and the former adviser to Moncloa Laura Díez, without waiting for the CGPJ to do its part.