Landelino Lavilla Alsina (6 August 1934 – 13 April 2020) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who served as the

minister of justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

from 1976 to 1979. He also served as member of parliament and as senator. His most important role was as

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies ( es, Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados) is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members o ...

during the coup d'état of 23-F in 1981. Jurist

Eduardo García de Enterría Eduardo García de Enterría y Martínez-Carande (27 April 1923 – 16 September 2013) was a Spanish jurist and a major contributor to the research and teaching of Public Law in Spain. In 1984, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Soci ...

called him the "principal architect of the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

Early life and education

Lavilla was born in

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

on 6 August 1934. He received law degrees from the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon, Spain. Founded in 1542, it is one of the oldest universiti ...

and

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

Career and activities

Lavilla was a lawyer by profession. He joined the board of lawyers of the

Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...

in 1958 and of the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

in 1959. He joined the ''Tácitos'', Catholic reformist group, in 1974. He became a senior member of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. The group published articles in the Catholic daily, ''Ya'', beginning by 1972. He was the undersecretary of industry in the last cabinet of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

from 1974 to 1976.

Minister of Justice

Lavilla was appointed minister of justice in the first cabinet of

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

on 5 July 1976, replacing Antonio Garrigues y Díaz-Cañabate in the post. Lavilla was part of the Tacito group in the cabinet along with

Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo (; 14 April 1926 – 3 May 2008), usually known as Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, was Prime Minister of Spain between 1981 and 1982. Early life and career Calvo-Sotelo was b ...

Andrés Reguera Andrés Reguera (16 November 1930 – 6 June 2000) was a Spanish jurist, businessman and politician who served at the Spanish Parliament. He was the minister of information and tourism between 7 July 1976 and 4 July 1977. Early life and educati ...

Eduardo Carriles Eduardo Carriles (1923–2020) was a Spanish lawyer, businessman and politician who served as the minister of finance between 1976 and 1977. Biography Carriles was born in Santander on 28 November 1923. He was a lawyer by profession. He served a ...

Enrique de la Mata Enrique de la Mata (September 20, 1933 – September 6, 1987) was a Spanish parliamentarian, lawyer and minister. He was the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1981 to 1987. After the end of ...

, Marcelino Oreja and

Alfonso Osorio Alfonso Osorio García (13 December 1923 – 27 August 2018) was a Spanish politician. Born in Santander on 13 December 1923, Osorio studied law at the University of Oviedo. He joined the State Lawyers Corps in 1953, serving in Cuenca and Toledo. ...

. He retained his post following the democratic elections in June 1977. He drafted the

1977 Political Reform Act The Political Reform Act (Act 1/1977, of 4 January, for the Political Reform)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 ...

. Lavilla's term ended on 6 April 1979 when

Íñigo Cavero Íñigo Cavero Lataillade, Marquis of el Castillo de Aysa, Baron of Carondelet, Baron of la Torre (1 August 1929 – 25 December 2002) was a Spanish aristocrat, lawyer and politician. Biography and career Born in San Sebastián on 1 August 192 ...

was appointed justice minister.

President of the Congress of Deputies and 23-F

Lavilla was appointed senator in 1977 and was in office until 1978. He was elected to the Congress of Deputies in 1979, representing Jaén province. He served as speaker of the Congress from 1979 to 1982 in the first legislature after the approval of the new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. On 23 February 1981, members of the Civil Guard led by

Antonio Tejero Antonio Tejero Molina (born 30 April 1932) is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most prominent figure in the failed coup d'état against the newly democratic Spanish government on 23 February 1981. Career Tejer ...

burst into the chamber in a failed

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. Lavilla faced Tejero saying that "in this chamber, the orders are given by the presidency. This is over. Evict." The colonel obeyed, and the deputies were able to occupy their seats after getting down. During the night of 23–24 February, he offered Tejero the members of the parliament board as hostages and asked that they free the members of the government and the legislators, but Tejero rejected the move. During Lavilla's term the first investiture debate took place according to the new Constitution; 33 organic laws, 231 ordinary laws and 71 law decrees were approved, and the first failed

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

and a question of confidence were presented. Before the 1982 general election Lavilla led the Christian Democrat party. He was re-elected in 1982, representing

Madrid province The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

, but resigned from the seat in 1983 and was succeeded by

in the post. In 1982 Lavilla also assumed the presidency of the Union of the Democratic Centre. Faced with the crisis of the party derived from the bad electoral result in the general elections, he resigned from the office in February 1983.

Member of the Council of State and later life

Lavilla was named a permanent member of the Council of State by a royal decree dated 28 July 1983 at the proposal of Prime Minister, an office which he held until his death in 2020. On 28 December 1995 he was appointed chairman of the Council's first section. On 8 February 1999 Lavilla took office as a permanent member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation and was its president between 2003 and 2012, being re-elected in 2008. In addition, he was a member of the advisory committee of

FRIDE The FRIDE (''Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior'', Spanish for "Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue") was an independent European think tank headquartered in Madrid and Brussels. As of 201 ...

, a Madrid-based now defunct think tank organization.

Personal life and death

Lavilla was married to Juana Rubira García Valdecasas, and they had four children. He died on 13 April 2020 at the age of 85 from an undisclosed illness.

Honors

Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and forei ...

(1974) *

Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (1979) * ESP St Raymond of Penyafort Order GC

Grand Cross of the Order of St. Raymond of Peñafort (1985) * ESP Isabella Catholic Order GC

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2010)Real Decreto 834/2010, de 25 de junio, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Católica a don Landelino Lavilla Alsina.
''Boletín Oficial del Estado'', 25 June 2010. (in Spanish)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavilla Alsina, Landelino 20th-century Spanish lawyers 1934 births 2020 deaths Complutense University of Madrid alumni Justice ministers of Spain Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Senate of Spain Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Lleida Politicians from Catalonia Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish transition to democracy University of Zaragoza alumni Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) politicians