Spain's top judicial body opposes Government's attorney general candidate for first time

Spain's highest judicial body, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), voted on Thursday against the reappointment of Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz.  

By a vote of 8 to 7, the members of the judges' governing body concluded that he was "not ideal" for the position.  

It is the first time in Spanish democracy that the highest judicial authority has taken a position against the candidate proposed by the Spanish government.   

The CGPJ's position is not binding, however, and the government can still reappoint García Ortiz as attorney general. 

The CGPJ judges that voted against the current attorney general, mainly from the conservative block, accuse him of failing to speak out against the amnesty law and the use of the term "lawfare" in the agreement signed between the Socialists and Catalan pro-independence Junts. 

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.