Judges and prosecutors of Lanzarote demonstrate demanding an "independent" judicial power

Judges and prosecutors of Lanzarote demonstrate demanding an "independent" judicial power

June 11 2025 (12:49 WEST)
Updated in June 11 2025 (12:51 WEST)
WhatsApp Video 2025 06 11 at 11.49.13

Judges and prosecutors gathered this Wednesday morning in front of the Arrecife courthouse against the legislative initiatives promoted by the Government of Spain and against "an atmosphere of continuous attack" on the judiciary due to the latest statements by the central Executive against the indictment of the Attorney General of the State.

The Professional Association of the Magistracy, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, the Independent Judicial Forum, and the Independent Professional Association of Prosecutors have signed a joint manifesto this June 11th. The text reads that the "Constitution of 1978 establishes the rule of law in Spain by sanctioning the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the existence of a Judicial Power independent of all political interference as guarantor of the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens."

Thus, the text defends that "this judicial independence, key to speaking of a real democracy and a true integration into the European Union, is under threat by recent legislative initiatives."

Among the legislative initiatives criticized by judges and prosecutors are the bill to modify access to judicial and prosecutorial careers and the preliminary draft of the organic statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The first of these, they criticize, has been processed "unjustifiably urgently" and is a project that "does not respond to any social demand." Furthermore, it notes that it has received "a very critical technical report from the General Council of the Judiciary."

For the members of the judiciary, this first initiative "is a legal reform that will lower the excellence of knowledge in accessing judicial and prosecutorial careers, eliminating essential content for our training and introducing more subjective and filterable tests."

They also criticize other measures, "such as putting politics inside the body that should ensure the ethics of judges," and highlight that it "intends to create a training center for candidates directly dependent on the Government and, therefore, with the risk of ideological selection of future judges and prosecutors in this country." Thus, they assure that to do this, they are "falsely using Europe as an excuse, they want to modify the base of both careers by converting one thousand three hundred substitute judges and prosecutors into judges and prosecutors, without tests that measure their aptitude for it and, consequently, against the constitutional principles of equality, merit, and capacity, with serious damage to the younger promotions and the thousands of candidates who are sacrificing themselves to achieve their dream of being a judge or prosecutor."

In the aforementioned manifesto, "at the same time as all this, and with the second aforementioned preliminary draft, they want to increase the powers of the Attorney General of the State, who, as head of all prosecutors, including the future investigating prosecutors they want to create, will continue to be appointed by the Government without any prior filter, which, added to the elimination of guarantees of autonomy for prosecutors, will further increase, against European demands, the risk of political interference in corruption cases."

The members of the judiciary assure that "all these reforms take place in an atmosphere of continuous attack on the judiciary and discrediting of the Prosecutor's Office, with political statements that delegitimize judicial resolutions that are bothersome, that treat the Public Prosecutor's Office as an appendage of the Government, and that, therefore, undermine the confidence of citizens in their Justice, which facilitates abuses of power against those same citizens."

In this sense, they point out that "the existence of a strong and independent judiciary is not a right of judges, it is a guarantee for everyone, as is having an impartial and autonomous Prosecutor's Office. Both requirements are essential to preserve the good democratic health of a country."

To continue, they point out that "there is no doubt that these reforms we are talking about, framed among others that have been taking place, are aimed at turning the judiciary into a power with a lowercase p, a weaker power in its function of counterbalance to political power, more malleable and sensitive to media and power pressures."

For all these reasons, and with this strike, they ask for "the withdrawal of both projects." And in the event that this is not the case, they do not rule out "the adoption of more intense conflict measures, such as a strike. Without forgetting that we also demand, as we have been doing for decades, a massive creation of judicial and prosecutorial positions in order to improve the quality and speed of the service we provide to society. Thank you very much to all the attendees, fellow judges and prosecutors, but also to those who, given the seriousness of what is intended, have decided to join us today to show your support in the defense and protection of the Rule of Law."

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