The president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Isabel Perelló, entered the debate on the Ceuta crisis this Thursday following the massive entry of nearly 80,000 people at the end of July, which is going to be investigated by the National Court judge María Tardón. “The reality suffered by the people of Ceuta demands a response that preserves the integrity of our borders.”
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The highest representative of the Judiciary has endorsed that the entry of migrants into Spain be done through an “orderly control” of access points that allows guarantees of the legal system.
In her speech before King Felipe delivered during the opening ceremony of the judicial year, Perelló asked citizens to “trust” in the Judiciary’s commitment to the State in this “serious crisis in which Ceuta is immersed.”
As is usual in her public interventions, Perelló again warned of the “seriousness” of the disqualifications against judges and the judiciary, especially those launched by political leaders. “The legal discussion about the reasons for a ruling cannot be replaced by attributing political or ideological purposes to the judge, based solely on disagreement with the decision, because this ignores the nature of the function that the Constitution exclusively entrusts to judges and magistrates,” she warned.
Perelló’s words come just days after the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, criticized Tardón for coming “from the political world,” pointing to her role as a councilor for the Popular Party in the Madrid City Council: “She has shown that her impartiality can be questioned,” the socialist minister said.
“Extreme seriousness” of lawfare accusations
Thus, the president of the Supreme Court has demanded that these types of accusations “of extraordinary seriousness and that can even imply the attribution of criminal conduct” be stopped. Specifically, she focused on the accusations of “lawfare” against certain judges.
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For Perelló, who delivered the speech in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, “it is unacceptable that the public disqualification of judges becomes an instrument of pressure on the exercise of jurisdiction.” That is why she has asked for “respect and institutional loyalty” to the Judiciary, whose function is a “true counterbalance to the other powers of the State.”
However, Perelló has also turned her attention to the judges themselves, to whom she asks for “restraint.” “Independence does not exempt the judge from being aware of the significance that their actions and decisions may have for the rights and interests of citizens. Prudence must also extend to their public interventions,” she demands.
Perelló voted in favor of the CGPJ referring to the Madrid High Court of Justice (TSJM) two informational proceedings initiated against magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado, in charge of the investigation of Begoña Gómez, wife of the Prime Minister, so that it could assess whether he might have committed minor offenses of disrespect and delay. Nevertheless, recently the Madrid justice system dismissed it.
That is why she said that the CGPJ must distance itself from “corporatism.” “Our independence is the best guarantee we can offer so that they are convinced that, when making a decision, we will do so without yielding to influences, pressures, or interference of any kind,” she emphasized.
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