The PP proposes to reinforce the protection of judges against threats and slander through administrative sanctions when those conduct does not reach the category of crime, and to offer them greater support against "political pressures", with the aim of safeguarding their "independence".
This initiative appears among the measures in the heading 'Power will not control whoever watches it' of the electoral program for the general elections on next 29 November, which the PP president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has made public this Tuesday together with the vicesecretary for Sectorial Coordination, Alma Ezcurra, responsible for preparing the text.
"We will protect the independence of judges. We will strengthen in the Organic Law of the Judiciary their protection against political pressures and improve the material and technological resources of courts and tribunals", the program states.
Along the same lines, the document includes the commitment to "strengthen" the criminal protection of judges "against serious threats, coercion and slander" and to establish "administrative sanctions for intimidations that do not constitute a crime".
Likewise, the 'popular' party proposes that the Rules of Procedure of the Congress and the Senate prevent judges from being called to appear in parliamentary chambers in order to give an account of their rulings.
Five years in office for the attorney general
In the sphere of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the PP argues that the attorney general of the State "will not depend on the Government" and that the mandates of both will be separated, considering that "the Prosecutor's Office must defend legality, not the political interests of whoever holds power".
"We will approve a new Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The attorney general will have a single term of five years and, as recommended by the European Commission, he will not be dismissed with the Government that proposed him", it states regarding a measure that Feijóo has been defending since only a few months after being elected leader of the party four years ago.
The program adds that the report of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) on the suitability of the candidate for attorney general "will be mandatory and binding for his appointment", and that if the attorney general is prosecuted, as happened with Álvaro García Ortiz -- convicted by the Supreme Court for revealing secrets --, that "will entail the immediate and automatic dismissal".
Within this framework, the PP states that "the impartiality of the Prosecutor's Office will protect every prosecutor" and that, if it comes to power, it will strengthen the Fiscal Council "to review contentious orders and protect professional autonomy".
"We will regulate the allocation of cases and the resolution of disagreements. Appointments and promotions will be based on objective criteria and will require the support of the Fiscal Council. The Prosecutor's Office will manage its budget and internal organization with autonomy. Its communications with the Government will be written and public, except for matters legally reserved," it adds.
Avoid new blockages in the renewal of the CGPJ
Regarding the CGPJ, the PP reiterates its position, aligned with the recommendations of the European Union, that judges from all categories directly elect the twelve board members of judicial origin.
The platform argues for maintaining the public evaluation of merits of the eight jurists appointed by the Courts and for extending "to all board members the incompatibility for having held political office in the five years prior to their election".
At the same time, it commits to adapting the renewal system "to prevent parliamentary deadlock from paralyzing the Council", as happened between 2018 and 2024 due to the lack of agreement between the PP and the PSOE.
The program also provides that vacancies for Supreme Court magistrates be filled "through a regulated merits-based competition, with motivated and public decisions, requiring that in the minimum seniority of twenty years in the judicial career already required by law, the time spent in special services for the holding of political office not be counted".
"Judges and prosecutors who have held political office will not be able to judge again or bring charges until five years after their dismissal," it adds.
That the Constitutional Court does not act as a second instance of the Supreme Court
In this section of its program, the PP argues that the Constitutional Court "will not be a second instance regarding the Supreme Court".
To this end, it proposes that the amparo appeal "will protect fundamental rights, but will not serve to review again the interpretation of ordinary legality that corresponds to the Supreme Court," and it suggests modifying procedural legislation and the law regulating the court itself "to clearly define which amparo appeals it admits and what effects its decisions have".
"Constitutional justice must arrive in time. Protection of the Constitution loses effectiveness when decisions come after the institutional damage has already occurred. Appeals on grounds of unconstitutionality against laws that affect fundamental rights will be resolved within ninety days," they add.
In addition, the PP wants to extend the prior appeal on grounds of unconstitutionality to the organic laws on the powers of the State and institutions of constitutional relevance, and to make public the pending matters, the allocation rules, and the sense of the vote of each magistrate "once the case has been resolved".
Likewise, those of Feijóo propose that the Constitutional Court approve "within six months an ethical code that protects the secrecy of its deliberations and sets consequences for leaks", and that the grounds for abstention and challenge of its magistrates be expanded in law.
"The independence of the Constitutional Court is a democratic priority. It must be perceived and function as an independent legal institution, not as an extension of political majorities," it maintains.
Strict regime of incompatibilities and role of the State Attorney
The PP proposes that no person proposed as a magistrate of the Constitutional Court will have held political office in the five years prior, and that a "strict" regime of incompatibilities be established.
"Reinforcing the independence, authority, and legitimacy of the Constitutional Court is essential so that the limits on power are credible and the constitutional rules are respected by all," the party training emphasizes.
In this area, it also argues that no magistrate "will take part in the decision on the constitutionality of a norm in whose drafting or promotion they have participated from the Government or the Administration".
Lastly, the 'popular' party members commit to ensuring that the State Attorney "will not defend particular interests of senior officeholders," which will require reforming its Regulations "so that the exercise of legal actions on behalf of a member of the Government requires an express justification of the general interest and its relation to the functions of the position".
Under this criterion, "public legal assistance may not be used for particular disputes unrelated to the legitimate exercise of those functions".