The TC highlights Tomás y Valiente's vision of the Constitution's ability to adapt to "political dynamics"

The court commemorates the murder at the hands of ETA of the magistrate, "the best constitutionalist" in "recent history"

MADRID, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Constitutional Court (TC), Cándido Conde-Pumpido, highlighted on Tuesday the vision of the emeritus president of the guarantee body Francisco Tomás y Valiente --murdered at the hands of ETA 27 years ago-- on the capacity of the Constitution to adapt to "political dynamics".

"We have gathered today to commemorate, from institutional dignity and from personal appreciation, the twenty-seventh anniversary of the murder by the terrorist group ETA of an outstanding figure in the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in our country", has said the magistrate in reference to Tomás y Valiente, whom he has described as "surely the best constitutionalist in our recent history", with some "achievements and teachings" of "permanent relevance".

Conde-Pumpido has recalled the words that Tomás y Valiente defended in an essay in 1994, in which he insisted that "the resistance of the Constitution can be understood as adaptability to political dynamics, allowing and directing the various political options to achieve the power or powers of the State and convert the different pragmatic expectations offered to citizens by them into State law".

On that occasion, the president emeritus stressed that the resistance of the Magna Carta could also be understood as "its ability to be interpreted flexibly and to a certain extent changeable based on new problems and new sensibilities (...)".

Within the framework of the act, Conde-Pumpido has deposited 27 roses in the monument erected in homage to the magistrate and those present have observed a minute's silence as a sign of respect. Two of the children of the honoree have attended; the interim president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Rafael Mozo; the President of the Council of State, Magdalena Valerio; the Rector of the Autonomous University of Madrid, Amaia Mendikoetxea; and the magistrates of the TC.

"I firmly believe that the stature of Francisco Tomás y Valiente, and his institutional and human contribution to the cause of constitutional success in Spain are more than enough reasons to honor him each year as his wake and legacy deserve", he pointed out in his speech .

Conde-Pumpido recalled that Tomás y Valiente was a magistrate and president of the Constitutional Court. As he has stressed, he was one of the so-called "twelve founding judges" of the TC. In addition, he was a professor of History of Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid, of the Elective and Permanent Councilor of the Council of State.

"As a magistrate and as president, the contribution that Francisco Tomás y Valiente made to this original work of the Court was vast and profound, both through his presentations and through his individual votes," he stressed.

The president of the TC has stressed that the magistrate is "surely the best constitutionalist in our recent history." "To verify the correctness of this assertion, the valuable reflection that Tomás y Valiente himself dedicated in his last years to the necessary jurisprudential use of the higher constitutionalized values, that is, freedom, justice, equality and political pluralism, which have become the evolutionary engine of our constitutional development", he pointed out.

Within the framework of his speech, Conde-Pumpido has advanced that "tomorrow" the Court will host an institutional meeting and a working lunch with all its Presidents Emeritus, in order to "take advantage of their irreplaceable experience, which undoubtedly serves to face the future with the utmost confidence".

"Therefore, I would like to end this address by dedicating one last thought to the President who could have been with us tomorrow if it had not been for the frozen hand that pulled that unfortunate trigger", he added.