MADRID – After months of sparring over the separation of powers, Spanish judges and politicians will meet for a surreal moment on Friday, as the country’s attorney-general – under investigation for allegedly leaking confidential information – joins King Felipe VI and senior judges for a public ceremony.
The occasion is the release of the annual report on the functioning of the courts – but the timing could hardly be more awkward.
For weeks, Spain’s judiciary has called on Attorney General Alvaro García Ortíz to resign, arguing that his role is incompatible with someone facing charges for disclosing to the press an email containing personal data relating to a judicial probe into Alberto González Amador, businessman and partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, leader of Madrid’s Popular Party.
Ahead of Friday’s ceremony at the Supreme Court in Madrid (the same body investigating the allegations against him), magistrates and prosecutors have asked García Ortíz not to attend.
A joint statement from three legal professional associations argued that his presence constitutes “an act of contempt for the basic principles of the rule of law”. Cristina Dexeus, president of Spain’s main Association of Prosecutors, told Euractiv that García Ortíz’s attendance undermines citizens’ confidence in the administration of justice.
The government, which under Spanish law appoints attorneys general, maintains that García Ortíz is innocent. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has voiced “his unwavering support”, while Transport Minister Oscar Puente described the Supreme Court judge in charge of the probe as the “real opposition” to the government.
Yet both sides are locked in a wider dispute over government plans to reform entry requirements for the judiciary and modify the status of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Judges on alert
One proposed change would make a judicial career “more accessible” by turning one of the two oral exams in the notoriously tough admission test into a written exam. One in four positions would be open to free competition, accessible to lawyers with “recognised experience”. The proposed reform would allow over 1,300 substitute judges and prosecutors to enter the system without having passed the relevant tests.
“These are very important reforms, which seriously undermine the integrity and capacity of the judiciary,” Fernando Portillo, president of Spain’s Independent Judicial Forum, told Euractiv.
Justice Minister Félix Bolaños has defended the changes, which are yet to pass parliament, as essential to creating more than 2,500 new positions for judges and prosecutors and bringing the system into line with “European standards.”
Another major proposed change would make prosecutors responsible for investigating criminal cases – until now entrusted to judges – and place Spain’s Judicial Police under the Public Prosecutor’s Office. That has prompted concerns that the Civil Guard’s top investigative unit (UCO) – currently in charge of high-profile investigations into Sánchez’s close circle, including his wife and brother – would come under the direction of the prosecutor’s office, potentially compromising the unit’s independence.
“How can we guarantee that prosecutors are protected and can investigate independently without interference from their boss?” Portillo asked, referring to the attorney general.
“This may lead to cases being handled not on legal grounds but on the basis of political expediency.”
(vc, de)
