Reinforcement plans, service commissions and even professors and senior officials could be used
MADRID, 28 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is considering among its options that of rescuing the ‘plan b’ devised in the times of Carlos Lesmes to alleviate the “unsustainable” situation of the Supreme Court (TS), with 17 vacancies that in the coming months could increase to 20 –which will mean 25% of its troops–, with a particularly worrying panorama in two rooms: the Social and the Contentious-Administrative.
The sources of the governing body of the judges consulted by Europa Press explain that the PP’s decision to suspend negotiations with the PSOE for the renewal of the CGPJ -which expired almost four years ago-, due to the Government’s intention to reform the crime of sedition, open a new stage that forces decisions to be made.
One of the most urgent tasks, according to the aforementioned sources, is to alleviate as much as possible the situation of the Supreme Court, which from the high court insists that it is “absolutely unsustainable”, “terrible”, due to the vacancies that have arisen since the entry into force of the legal reform of March 2021 that prohibits an acting CGPJ from covering those that are registered in the high courts.
In his day, when Lesmes still held the Presidency of the CGPJ and the TS, a “plan b” was considered that would consist of sending troops to the Supreme Court through reinforcement plans, temporary service commissions or external replacement by professors and senior officials.
These patches have already been applied in lower courts and, at the time, the CGPJ chose not to do it with the TS until its rooms reached the point of not being able to meet in sections due to lack of magistrates, something that already happens in the rooms of the Social and the Contentious-Administrative, where the magistrates take turns to cover gaps.
Another reason that this ‘plan b’ has not already been activated for the TS is that there are legal doubts that it can be used to fill the vacancies of magistrates. Thus, some sources indicate that it could serve to insufflate lawyers in the most affected rooms, something that would be a relief but not the definitive solution, they emphasize from the high court.
In any case, the sources draw attention to the fact that these aid measures would have to have the approval of the Ministry of Justice, as it is the one who must authorize the economic allocation for it.
They also emphasize that we are in an embryonic phase, so it is expected that in the coming days and weeks there will be meetings between the 18 members that currently make up the CGPJ to analyze the scenario and decide on the next steps.
What is clear to them in the CGPJ is that they are the government of the Judicial Power, so that there is no paralysis, but to continue fulfilling their functions to the extent that the current law allows it.
Within the TS, the most suffocating situation is suffered by the Social Room. It has 8 magistrates, after the recent retirements of its until now president, María Luisa Segoviano, who has been replaced by Rosa María Virolés –for being the longest-serving magistrate–, and Ricardo Bodas, when the Law of Demarcation and Judicial Plant establishes that it must be constituted by 12 magistrates and the president: 13.
This room deals with issues as relevant as labor claims related to COVID-19. In fact, in the last plenary session chaired by Segoviano, the ruling was approved that rules out the automatic nullity of the agreed dismissal without valid cause during the pandemic.
The situation of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber is also worrying. The law awards it 33 magistrates — president included — but the successive casualties have left it with 24, which will become 23 on December 27 due to the retirement of Octavio Herrero.
Two outstanding issues are pending in this room: the resources of PP, Cs and Vox against the pardons granted by the Government to those convicted of the ‘procés’; and the resources formulated by the member Wenceslao Olea and the secretary of the CGPJ, José Luis de Benito, against the appointment of Rafael Mozo as interim president of the CGPJ after the resignation of Lesmes.
The resolution of the appeals of Olea and De Benito takes on special importance in the current situation, as it will clarify the extent to which the power of an acting CGPJ reaches, as well as the validity of the agreements adopted with Mozo as “alternate president”, in which any of the aforementioned will be framed to rescue the Supreme.
The Military Chamber is also going through a critical situation because of the 8 magistrates granted by law, it only retains 6, which on September 7, 2023 could be reduced to 5 due to the retirement of Fernando Pignatelli.
More comfortable is the situation of the Civil Chambers -with only one vacancy and 9 of its 10 magistrates– and the Criminal Chamber -which endures with its 15 magistrates, although on April 13, 2023 it could suffer its first exit for the retirement of Miguel Colmenero.
It should be remembered that these 17 vacancies in the TS are part of the 68 vacancies that there are today in the judicial leadership, among which we must also add 30 in the superior courts of justice –including seven presidencies–, 20 in the provincial hearings and one in the National Court.
