Socialists and People's Party make 'last attempt' at appointing new judiciary head

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition conservative People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, have agreed to "make a last attempt" to renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).

The political figureheads need to agree on a replacement for the head of the judicial body, Carlos Lesmes, who resigned on Sunday from the post. 

Lesmes's mandate actually expired in 2018, but remained in the position as there had not been any political consensus to appointing his successor. 

Spanish presidency minister Félix Bolaños explained in a press conference after a meeting held for three hours in the Spanish government building that the two parties agreed that the resignation of Lesmes "exacerbates" the "deep institutional crisis" of the judiciary, and the pair acknowledge the need to find a "quick solution." 

Esteban González Pons of the PP remarked celebrated that the executive is willing to "do something constructive."

The PP has linked the negotiation of the renewal of the CGPJ with the election of new magistrates of the constitutional court. The Minister of the Presidency avoided talking about the content of the negotiation and has defended that it is necessary to work with "discretion".

How appointment of judges' governing body works in Spain

The CGPJ is in charge of appointments, promotions, and transfers of judges, as well as inspecting how courts work and "staunchly safeguarding the independence of the judiciary," protecting it from the other powers. 

Yet, it is the Congress and the Senate, the legislative power, that appoints the members of the CGPJ leadership. Both chambers require three-fifths majorities to appoint a new team when the five-year mandates in CGPJ expire. 

In December 2018, the current members of the governing body reached the end of their terms, but continued since then to hold their posts since the Socialists and the People's Party – essential for the three-fifths majority – had been unable to agree on successors. 

The CGPJ president is also the head of Spain's Supreme Court.