The General Council of the Judiciary ( es, Consejo General del Poder Judicial, CGPJ) is the

national council of the judiciary In the European continental judicial tradition, the national councils of the judiciary are institutions that ensure the self-management of the judiciary and the effective delivery of justice, which are autonomous or independent of the executive a ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It is the constitutional body that governs all the

Judiciary of Spain The Judiciary of Spain consists of Courts and Tribunals, composed of judges and magistrates (Justices), who have the power to administer justice in the name of the King of Spain. Law The Spanish legal system is a civil law system based on co ...

, such as

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

s, and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s, as it is established by the

Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was ...

, article 122 and developed by the Organic Law 6/1985 of the Judicial Power (LOPJ). The President of the CGJP is also the president of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Constitutional nature

The Constitution of 1978 regulates the General Council of the Judiciary in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the section 122.Spanish Constitution Part IV
/ref> This means that, the Constitution only detail the way of election of the eight members of the CGPJ that they will be chosen between the most renowned jurists. It requires a minimum of 15 years of experience. Four of them must to be chosen by the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the other four by the Senate. Both case requires a

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations *Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics *Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...

to be elected member of the CGPJ. Otherwise, for the election of the twelve members precedents of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, with independence of the professional category that they belong (Magistrate of the

, Magistrate or Judge), the Constitution refers to what is established in a future Organic Law. The

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

fulfilled this constitutional mandate with the approval of the Organic Law 6/1985, of 1 July, of the

Judicial Power The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

.Organic Law 6/1985, July 1st, of the Judicial Power
Consulted November 19th, 2016.

Functions

The CGPJ is not a jurisdictional body, but an overseeing and organising body of the Spanish Judiciary - it does not form part of the judiciary itself. Among its main functions are: *To elect, among its members, its president and the president of the Supreme Court *To nominate, by a three fifths

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterConstitutional Court *To oversee and inspect the activities of judges and courts. *To select, train, assign destination, administrative situations and establish and keep the disciplinary rules and procedures of judges and magistrates. *To name judges and, with the approval of the Minister of Justice, the Magistrates of the Supreme Court, Court presidents and magistrates. The CGPJ is also compelled to report on all the laws and legal dispositions of the State and the Autonomous Communities pertaining to judicial questions, as well as being consulted in the naming of the Attorney General of the State.

Composition and manner of election

The Constitution determines in its article 122.3: * It will have 20 members and a President. * The President of the CGPJ it is also the President of the Supreme Court. * 12 members will be

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s or

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

s. An Organic Law will decided the method of election. * 8 members will be

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

s or

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

s. 4 of them elected by the Congress and 4 by the Senate. The Organic Law 2/2001 (currently in force), modified the Organic Law 6/1985 in which refers to the election system:

Changes in the Organic Law and new reform proposal

According to the original wording of Article 112 of the Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1st, of the Judiciary

Each of the chambers that form the Cortes Generales chose ten members by a qualified majority of three fifths. Six among active duty judges and four among lawyers of recognized competence. Members of the outgoing Council or those who provided services in their technical bodies could not be elected. The President is appointed by the Plenary of the CGPJ between members of the judicial career or jurists of recognized competence. During his term, members can not be removed, replaced, or terminated and can not be re-elected. Formally, they are appointed by the

King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

According to the modification made by Organic Law 2/2001 of June 21st

Organic Law 2/2001, of June 21, modified article 122 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary reforming the election method between members coming from the

. The professional associations of the judiciary or groups of judges who make up at least 2% of the total on active duty may present to the chambers a total of thirty-six candidates, of which the

shall elect six and the other six will be chosen by the Senate from among the remaining thirty.

Reform proposal of 2012

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, minister of Justice, announced in 2012 his intention to change the method of election of the 12 members of the CGPJ, returning to the old system of 1985. However, on December 21, 2012 the minister attended to the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

with a preliminary project in which it was established that the election of the twenty members of the governing body of the judges was carried out directly by the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, without previous elections in the judicial career. Ruiz-Gallardón considered that the reform, consensual with the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, would contribute to depoliticization justice. The Council of Ministers rejected this project.

Members of the CGPJ

The members of the General Council of the Judiciary are the President, the Vice-president and the Members.

Presidents

The President of the CGPJ is also the President of the

. They are: * Federico Carlos Sainz de Robles y Rodríguez (1980–1985) * Antonio Hernández Gil (1985–1990) * Pascual Sala Sánchez (1990–1996) * Francisco Javier Delgado Barrio (1996–2001) * Francisco José Hernando Santiago (2001–2008) * Carlos Dívar Blanco (2008–2012) * Gonzalo Moliner Tamborero (2012–2013) * Carlos Lesmes Serrano (2013–2022)

Vicepresidents

* Rafael Gimeno Gamarra, replaced by Manuel García Miguel (1980–1985)Miembros anteriores del CGPJ
Web Poder Judicial España * Manuel Peris Gómez (1985–1990) *

Luis López Guerra Luis López Guerra (born 11 November 1947) is a Spanish judge born in León who served as Judge of the European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an internationa ...

(1996–2001) * Fernando Salinas Molina (2001–2008) * Fernando de Rosa Torner (2008–2013)Current members of the GCJ
Web Poder Judicial España * Ángel Juanes (2013–Present)

Members

These are the current Members of the CGPJ since November 29, 2013. They were elected by the

and the Senate. As of 2018, they need to be renewed.Royal Decree 931/2013, of November 29, appointing Vowels of the General Council of the Judiciary at the proposal of the Senate.
/ref> * Roser Bach i Fabregó * María del Mar Cabrejas Guijarro * María Ángeles Carmona Vergara * María Victoria Cinto Lapuente * Álvaro Cuesta Martínez * Nuria Díaz Abad * Juan Manuel Fernández Martínez * Rafael Fernández Valverde * Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez * Vicente Guilarte Gutiérrez * Carmen Llombart Pérez * Clara Martínez de Careaga * Juan Martínez Moya * Francisco Gerardo Martínez Tristán * Rafael Mozo Muelas * Enrique Lucas Murillo de la Cueva * Wenceslao Francisco Olea Godoy * Maria Mercè Pigem i Palmés * María Concepción Sáez Rodríguez * María Pilar Sepúlveda García de la Torre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Council Of The Judicial Power Of Spain Government of Spain Law of Spain Judiciary of Spain National councils of the judiciary