Spanish PM and opposition leader meet to resolve judicial deadlock   

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met Friday with the leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijoo, to discuss the renovation of Spain’s highest judicial body the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).

During the one-and-a-half hour meeting held at the Spanish Congress Feijóo suggested that the negotiations surrounding the renovation should be “supervised” by the European Commission.

“It is clear that the judiciary branch is in crisis and that we don’t trust the government,” the conservative leader added.

According to PP, the Spanish prime minister was willing to accept this form of negotiation, although the socialists have yet to confirm this.

The last time the two leaders met to discuss the CGPJ renewal was in 2022, although the meeting did not result in any changes.

Before the meeting, Catalan Socialist leader Salvador Illa told the Catalan News Agency (ACN), that he hoped the meeting would not be “a waste of time”. He also urged the conservative party to “respect the functioning of our democracy and the Spanish Constitution."

History of disagreement

The CGPJ, Spain's highest judicial body, has been expired for five years because the Socialists and the PP, the only parties with the necessary parliamentary majorities, have not been able to reach an agreement to renew it.

The PP demands a reform which would change the election system for the body before negotiating its renewal.

In November , the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), voted against the reappointment of Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz.

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.

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.