Moncloa defends the suitability of Campo and relies on a TC ruling to appoint its magistrates without the CGPJ

Charge against the conservative members for the delay of the CGPJ to appoint its magistrates to the Constitutional

MADRID, 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños, has defended the suitability of the two Government candidates for the Constitutional Court --the former minister Juan Carlos Campo and the former director general of the Ministry of the Presidency Laura Díez-- and It has relied on a ruling from the guarantee court itself to appoint its two magistrates without the two that the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is responsible for appointing.

"We believe that they are two absolutely suitable profiles. Few people have such extensive knowledge of the Administration from different positions," he said at the press conference after the Council of Ministers in which both candidates were approved.

Bolaños has assured that he is "convinced" that they will do their work "with rigor" and "with a vocation for public service." In line, he has criticized the impartiality of the magistrates that the Government has now proposed and has ensured that they have the same suitability as the magistrates that they are going to replace and who were appointed by the previous Executive.

The minister has stressed that Campo is an "accredited person" who "began his career 35 years ago" and who "has served the public in different roles." He has also stressed that he "is a person of dialogue" and "of consensus". "The decision that he makes today is an absolutely suitable decision," he has defended.

Juan Carlos Campo was the Minister of Justice who approved the pardons for those convicted of the independence process in Catalonia and who later returned to the National Court to join the Criminal Chamber, where he has had to refrain from cases with politicians.

Laura Díez Bueso, for her part, is a professor at the University of Barcelona, ​​adviser to the Catalan Government for the reform of the Statute and a former high-ranking position in the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government of Pedro Sánchez.

Although he has an academic profile, his career has turned to politics in recent years and so much so that he has held important positions in the Government of Pedro Sánchez. In fact, since February 2020 --when former Vice President Carmen Calvo appointed her-- and until 2022, she has held the position of General Director of Constitutional Affairs and Legal Coordination of the Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory .

Bolaños has specified that the Executive will send the agreement to the Constitutional Court "so that it can formally verify that they comply with the suitability requirements established by law." Although, in his opinion, Campo and Díez "more than meet" these requirements.

In the framework of his intervention, Bolaños has emphasized a ruling by the Constitutional Court itself that guarantees that the Government names its two candidates without having to wait for the CGPJ.

"There is already a Constitutional ruling, which is from November 15, 2016, where it is said that when a body that has an obligation to appoint Constitutional magistrates does not do so in time and form, that cannot delay another body, in this case the government", he explained.

Now that Moncloa has chosen to move forward without the CGPJ -which also has yet to name the two corresponding magistrates-, the one who must clear up the unknown is the Constitutional Plenary, since it is the one who must give the 'placet' to the selected.

Initially, sources from the court of guarantees saw it difficult for the two candidates for the Executive branch to overcome the filter of the Plenary session without the two from the CGPJ, because -they explained- the Council could not fulfill its constitutional function due to the reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary approved in March 2021 that prohibited the body from making discretionary appointments in the judicial leadership while it expired, a situation in which it has been going for almost four years.

The same sources, however, have now stressed that the scenario changed last July, when PSOE and Unidas Podemos promoted the approval of a second reform so that the Council would recover its power to fill vacancies in the high courts, although only for the Constitutional Court. .

Faced with this thesis, other sources consulted by Europa Press maintain that the Constitution does not allow any other interpretation than that the renewal be made with the full third (the 4 magistrates), because the opposite would mean 'de facto' doing it by sixths (2 magistrates).

Thus, the key to the plenary session will be held by the current conservative majority of the TC, from 6 to 5, since the position of magistrate Alfredo Montoya --who must fill the Senate-- remains vacant. It should be remembered that, if the Government finally decides to appoint on its own, and obtains the approval of the Plenary, the majority of the Constitutional Court will change because González-Trevijano and Narváez, at the time nominated by the Rajoy Executive, would be replaced by the two sent by the Sánchez Cabinet, configuring a progressive majority of 7 to 4, in the absence of the two from the CGPJ.

Within the framework of the press conference, Bolaños has charged this Tuesday against the conservative members for the delay of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) to appoint the two magistrates that it corresponds to designate for the Constitutional Court (TC).

"I do not hide from you that we would have wanted these appointments to have been simultaneous to both of the CGPJ. I do not want to refer to the CGPJ in its entirety, but to the eight members who have not complied with the law," he pointed out.

Likewise, Bolaños has assured that "in no case can the breach of the law of the CPGJ imply a breach of the law by the Government." Thus, he has insisted that "the Government asks all political agents to comply with the Constitution."

The Minister of the Presidency has also stressed that the Executive "has the right and has the duty" to make such appointments. "The situation of blockade that is taking place in the CGPJ is a breach that cannot lead to the Government also failing to comply", he pointed out.