The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) gave the green light this Wednesday to the updating of the members of the body's internal commissions. At the same time, its president, Isabel Perelló, reiterated before the members the need to complete as soon as possible the appointments of judges still vacant in the Supreme Court.
According to the governing body of the judges itself, with this decision "it thus fulfills the legal mandate established in the Organic Law of the Judiciary, which provides that the commissions will be renewed annually".
On this occasion, the Permanent Commission –the most important within the CGPJ– has been renewed, as well as those of Qualification, Economic Affairs, Equality, Studies and Reports, Judicial School, International Relations, Technological Innovation and Digital Transformation, Judicial Career and Institutional Affairs.
The Council specified that the Plenary has backed by majority the candidacy presented by member Carlos Hugo Preciado, after member José Antonio Montero chose to withdraw his slate and the one headed by member José María Fernández Seijo did not obtain sufficient support.
As for the Permanent Commission, the CGPJ has highlighted that among its members there will be four women, who will also assume the presidency of the commissions of Economic Affairs, Equality, Studies and Reports, Judicial School and International Relations.
The Permanent Commission will continue under the presidency of Perelló, who will be accompanied by the members José Antonio Montero, José Carlos Orga, José María Páez, José Luis Costa, Argelia Queralt, Lucía Avilés and Inés Herreros.
The body has emphasized that, for the first time, the Permanent Commission now has four women among its eight members. Likewise, it has stressed that in six of the ten renewed commissions the presidency will fall to a woman: the Permanent, Economic Affairs, Equality, Studies and Reports, Judicial School and International Relations.
In addition, it has pointed out that, if the eleven commissions included in the proposal are taken into account –among them the Disciplinary Commission, whose composition remains unchanged–, women occupy 29 of the 59 positions, which is equivalent to 51.8 percent.
This was the second occasion on which the renewal of the committees was submitted to the Plenum of the CGPJ, after on October 14 there was no agreement reached and Perelló called on the members to close a consensus in the following days in order to achieve an balanced distribution.
Once the pact on the committees has been achieved, Perelló has again urged the members to reach now an agreement on the appointments that remain vacant in the Supreme Court, given the high workload resulting from the unfilled seats and with the aim of "covering thus as soon as possible the needs".