Del Río on the ERE case: "The pardon must be exceptional, justified and never for disagreeing with a sentence"

SEVILLA, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA), Lorenzo del Río, has emphasized this Tuesday in relation to the ERE case that the pardon "must be something exceptional" and therefore "great care must be taken in its granting" , provided that it is justified for reasons of "fairness and public utility", but "never because you disagree with a sentence".

Lorenzo del Río has spoken in this way in an interview on Canal Sur Radio, collected by Europa Press, after several former socialist officials of the Junta de Andalucía sentenced to prison for their role in the ERE case have submitted writings in the last days to the Ministry of Justice through their families requesting a pardon. The first of them was the former socialist president of the Board José Antonio Griñán, but later others have followed, such as the former Minister of Innovation, Science and Business Francisco Vallejo or the former Director General of Labor and Social Security Juan Márquez.

Lorenzo del Río recognized, when expressly asked, that "obviously" this case has been contaminated by politics and that "clouds reflections and interpretations a little" and, although he considered it "complicated" to answer the question of whether the The pardon requested by the defenses can leave in question the action of justice in the cause of the ERE, it has emphasized that, in any case, the answer is connected with what this measure of grace means.

"Any pardon must be understood as an exception to the principle of jurisdictional exclusivity, it is still a loophole of the absolutist State and then great care must be taken in granting it," he stressed. Thus, it has maintained that the pardon "must be something exceptional" and "is justified for reasons of equity, for public utility" and because it is "shared by the generality of society", but "never because you disagree with a sentence , that should never go that way," argued the president of the TSJA. In spite of everything, he has clarified that "the reflections of when they are given or not given --pardons-- are political reflections, because it is still a political decision." "And I can't get into that interpretive game," he stressed.

Asked if, after the principle of agreement of the majority parties, he believes that the negotiation for the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) will culminate, the president of the TSJA has expressed the opinion that "institutions cannot be further degraded, the damage it is evident" and trusts that "in a short time" this anomalous situation "will not continue".

Regarding the bicephaly caused in the Judiciary as a result of the CGPJ having appointed Rafael Mozo as its interim president, leaving Judge Francisco Marín Castán exercising the functions of the Presidency of the Supreme Court, Lorenzo del Río has recognized that this matter has already "Generated discord" before the resource that has been announced and therefore maintains that "the problem is there" and the renewal of the Council must be solved "as soon as possible".

He has thus opined that politicians must "respect the spirit of the law and the Constitution", renewing in time the governing body of the judiciary, and that "ideally" it would be for judges to have a "slightly more important" role. in this renewal process.