The PSOE defends "parliamentary control" in the election of the CGPJ and the PP claims to follow the "European mandate"

The parties endorse the independence of the judges between reproaches for the blockade of the Council

MADRID, 26 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The socialist senator Txema Oleaga has defended this Monday the need, in the opinion of the PSOE, of a "parliamentary control" when electing the members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), while the PP deputy Luis Santamaría has claimed to follow the "European mandate" so that the judges are chosen among themselves.

During the discussion table 'Current challenges of judicial independence', organized in the Congress of Deputies by the association of judges Foro Judicial Independiente, Oleaga stated that "the PSOE does not agree to eliminate parliamentary control of judges" , when asked if he prefers the current model of election of the members of the CGPJ or a different one.

In the eyes of the senator, "the current system can be reviewed" but conditional on the existence of control from the Courts to the judges, and this is how he pronounced himself before reproaching the PP for giving a "blow to democracy and the Constitution" for your behavior.

He has pointed out that the position of the PSOE is that the Courts have to participate in the formation of the CGPJ, ruling out that the judges designate "exclusively" those who represent them in that body.

The socialist senator has stressed that the impartiality of the judges in Spain is "very clear", compared to other countries, such as "Hungary", where the "extreme right-wing currents" question it.

From the PP, Santamaría has said that reinforcing the independence of Justice also means that bodies such as the State Attorney General's Office are impartial and has affirmed that his party is in favor of changing the CGPJ model according to the "European mandate", that is to say , that 12 of the 20 members are chosen by the judges themselves.

Santamaría has opted to reinforce the mechanisms to guarantee judicial independence and has made Podemos ugly that their criticism of judges such as Manuel García Castellón, of the National Court, or Juan José Escalonilla, of the Plaza de Castilla courts, forces them to "ask for protection" to work.

Oleaga and Santamaría have debated with Enrique Santiago (Unidas Podemos), Javier Ortega Smith (Vox) and Edmundo Bal (Citizens), who have also transferred this Monday in Congress their certainty of the independence of the judges to dictate sentences without political influences, while they have been accused of putting obstacles to the renewal of the CGPJ, which has been in office for almost four years.

From United We Can, the leader of the Communist Party has ensured that judicial independence exists, although he has stressed that a judge has, like any person, his point of view and can militate in judicial associations of a certain tendency.

Regarding the debate around the Council, Santiago has considered that there is a "very clear attempt at interference by the political parties in the Judiciary that should not be" and has denounced a "coordination" between the PP and the 'conservative' members "to avoid" both that renewal and that the CGPJ appoint the two magistrates that correspond to it for the Constitutional Court.

In addition, Santiago has defended that "there will never be an absolutely perfect system" to elect the members of the CGPJ, but from their political space they support that the body of judges has to submit to the control of parliament, of "popular sovereignty" , being one of the three powers of the State.

For his part, Javier Ortega Smith has conveyed that "in general terms, there is independence of judges, but not of the judicial system", pointing out the "threat" of the parties and governments for wanting to influence the appointments of the high magistracies.

He has expressed that Vox defends that the 12 members of judicial extraction "must be chosen" by the judges by a "personal and direct vote", as well as "always guaranteeing the freedom of any magistrate to be able to apply for that position", whether or not he is in an association.

Meanwhile, Edmundo Bal has stated that any Justice worker knows that "judges are independent", although he wanted to emphasize that Justice, "in addition to being so, must appear so".

The Ciudadanos spokesman has charged against "certain politicians" who express themselves publicly about resolutions that they do not like, describing their authors as "facha judges", because "sentences are accepted when we like them and when we do not like them".

Bal has highlighted that the judges must be elected to the highest positions in the judiciary for their "merits and ability" and has criticized the fact that the PP is now joining in reforming the system that elects the members of the CGPJ after "35 years dividing the judges".