The Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday the appointments of the former Minister of Justice Juan Carlos Field and of the former director general of the Ministry of the Presidency Laura Díez as new magistrates of the Constitutional Court (TC).
The Government had previously stated its intention to choose two candidates for the TC without waiting for the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) to appoint the other two who complete the four vacancies that they had to appoint.
In these months, the Executive has fluctuated from positions that, at first, contemplated appointing its two candidates for the TC, although the CGPJ could not do the same because then the Organic law of judicial power (LOPJ) prevented him from doing so, even others in which he advocated giving the governing body of judges a reasonable amount of time so that, once the legal capacity to do so had been recovered, it nominated his pair for the TC.
Now that Moncloa has chosen to move forward without the CGPJ, as it has advanced The country, should clear up the unknown plenary session of the TC. Initially, sources from the court of guarantees saw it difficult for the two candidates for the Executive branch to pass the plenary filter without the two from the CGPJ, because the Council could not fulfill its constitutional function due to the reform of the LOPJ operated in March 2021 what prohibits the organ make discretionary appointments in the judicial leadership while it is expireda situation in which it has been for almost four years.
However, the same sources now emphasize that the scenario changed last July, when PSOE Y United We Can they 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.
A progressive majority
Faced with this thesis, other sources maintain that the Constitution does not allow any other interpretation than that the renovation is done with the full third (the four magistrates), because otherwise it would be ‘de facto’ to do so by sixths (two magistrates). The key to the Plenary will be held by the current conservative majority of the TC since the magistrate’s position Alfredo Montoya -which must be filled by 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 Narváezin their day postulated by the Rajoy Executive, would be replaced by the two sent by the Sánchez Cabinet, configuring a progressive majority of seven to four, in the absence of the two from the CGPJ.
Campo and Diez
Campo left the Executive after the remodeling of the Government in which Pedro Sánchez replaced him with Pilar Llop in the Ministry of Justice after the nine pardons granted for sedition and embezzlement due to the process and the frustrated negotiations between the Government and the PP to renew the General Council of the Judiciary, a matter still pending.
Once his cessation as Minister of Justice was formalized, Campo requested his reinstatement to the National audience to occupy his position as magistrate in the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber, functions that he resumed in September of last year. Of course, during these months he has distanced himself from political causes due to his previous political position.
Until last April, Díez Bueso held the position of General Director of Constitutional Affairs and Legal Coordination of the Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory after passing through the position of Director of the Office of the Secretary of State for Relations with the Courts.
