Bill would let judges elect the judicial members of the judges' council

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would change how the twelve judicial members of the General Council of the Judiciary are chosen: instead of being appointed by Congress and the Senate, they would be elected directly by and among all serving judges, through a free, personal, equal, direct and secret vote in a single nationwide district.
2. Candidates for the judicial seats would need the backing of one hundred serving judges or of a judicial association, and people who held a political or politically trusted position in the previous ten years could not run. The same ten-year political ban would apply to the jurist seats, and serving judges could not be chosen as jurist members either.
3. Before appointment, candidates would have to appear before the Appointments Committee of each chamber, in a public hearing, with a record of merits and goals so their prestige and suitability can be assessed.
4. The bill would require a three-fifths majority of the Council for more appointments: Supreme Court presidents and judges, presidents and panel presidents of the National Court and the High Courts of Justice, presidents of Provincial Courts, the Supreme Court vice president, and the judge overseeing CNI activities. It would also recreate the Qualification Committee, which would report on all appointments made by the full Council.
5. It would abolish the figure of the regional judge (magistrado autonómico), who was appointed at the proposal of regional parliaments, though those already in office could stay until retirement or early removal.
6. On the Public Prosecutor's office: no one who held a political or politically trusted position in the previous ten years could be proposed as State Attorney General, the Council would issue a report on the candidate's suitability, the Attorney General could be recused, prosecutor appointments would need three-fifths of the Prosecution Council, and the Attorney General's reports to the Government would be published in the annual report, with simultaneous notice to Congress.

Who it affects

• Judges and magistrates: They would directly elect the twelve judicial members of the Council and could run with the required endorsements.
• Members of the General Council of the Judiciary: They would need three-fifths majorities for many appointments and would regain the Qualification Committee.
• Congress and the Senate: They would lose the power to appoint the judicial members and would receive notice of the Attorney General's reports to the Government.
• The State Attorney General and prosecutors: New suitability requirements, possible recusal, and qualified majorities for appointments.
• Regional parliaments: They would no longer propose regional judges for the civil and criminal panels of the High Courts of Justice.

Words worth knowing

Consejo General del Poder Judicial

The body that governs the Spanish judiciary and safeguards judges' independence.

Vocal

Each of the twenty members of the General Council of the Judiciary.

Turno judicial and turno de juristas

The two origins of the members: serving judges, or jurists of recognized standing.

Ministerio Fiscal

The Public Prosecutor's office, the state body that defends legality and citizens' rights in court proceedings.

Recusación

Formally asking that a person involved in a case be barred from taking part for lack of impartiality.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries