The Government forces the renewal of the TC through a legal reform

La Moncloa, before the Andalusian elections, already warned that it was analyzing “all the options & rdquor; to achieve the renewal of the Constitutional Court in case the PP maintains the blockade in the General Council of the Judiciary. Now, after the polls, you have already decided which formula you will use. And it will activate it imminently, this very Friday: it will be a legal reform, so that the governing body of the judges can appoint the two magistrates of the TC that it must appoint even if it continues in office. In this way, it will be possible to proceed to the full replacement of the third of the High Court whose mandate expired on June 12 without doubts about the legality of the procedure or blockages by the current members of the TC.

The Socialist Group registers this Friday, June 24, a bill in the Congress of Deputies very simple: reform of article 570 bis of the Organic Law of the Judiciary of 1985, as advanced elDiario.es and sources from the PSOE leadership confirmed to this newspaper. What the new wording allows is that if the CGPJ’s mandate has expired, it will be able to continue appointing the candidates for the two seats to the TC that correspond to it. With that, partially reverses the last modification promoted by the Executive in March 2021: Just to force the renewal of the CGPJ, PSOE and United We Can promote that, once it takes office, it is prohibited from making appointments to the judicial leadership. That change, by the way contested by the opposition, is the one that has now tied the Executive’s hands and feet to achieve the update of the TC.

Now therefore undo the March 2021 amendment via bill, a different and faster way. As it is a reform launched by a parliamentary group, there is no need for reports from the advisory bodies, which is what would be necessary if the author of the text was the Government. In addition, the intention of the PSOE, as pointed out by Ferraz and from the parliamentary leadership, is that the processing is urgent and in a single reading (without the possibility of introducing amendments), so his calculation is that it can be approved in July. The Socialists previously informed their partners of United We Can about the initiative. Being organic in nature, it will require an absolute majority in Congress and the Senate, which will require the Executive to negotiate with the groups.

Message to the PP

In this way, it would be possible to fulfill the article 159.3 of the Constitution, which requires that the renewal of the TC be done by thirds. The one that plays now, corresponding to the quota of four magistrates whose mandate expired on June 12, implies that the Government has to name its two candidates and the CGPJ, the other two. Thus, the political sign of the High Court would be reversed: from a conservative majority of seven to five it would go to a progressive majority also of seven to five.

Related news

Of this renewal three conservative magistrates would leave (the current president of the court, Pedro González-Trevijano, Antonio Narváez and Santiago Martínez-Vares) and a progressive (The vice president of the institution, Juan Antonio Xiol). They will be replaced by three progressives and one conservative, since the CGPJ always appoints one of each orientation.

The Executive had already made it clear in recent weeks that it was not going to accept any more delays by the PP, because the CGPJ has been in office for more than three and a half years with its mandate expired. Genoa’s latest movement irritated Moncloa even more: the interlocutor appointed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Esteban González Pons, announced on June 13 that his party would raise its proposal for & rdquor; regeneration & rdquor; of Justice along with his idea of ​​renewing the Judiciary. Pedro Sánchez has opted for accelerate the relief in the TC without waiting for the PP to decide. The fear was that the popular leadership would opt for a new delaying maneuver.