The Judiciary and Governance in Spain

Posted on Mar 17, 2025 in Law & Jurisprudence

The Judiciary in Spain

The Government’s executive functions include:

  • Agreeing to negotiate and sign international treaties (subject to authorization by the Cortes).
  • Declaring a state of alarm and emergency.
  • Proposing to the House of Representatives the declaration of a state of siege.

Ministers, as heads of their departments, exercise regulatory power in matters of their own. Policymakers also participate in government decisions of the Council of Ministers and direct the responsible administration. As you can see, they have a dual role of political and administrative leadership. However, these powers of the ministers are limited *de facto* by the leading role that the Prime Minister has acquired.

The relationship between the Parliament and the Government is not balanced; the Executive has considerable prominence. This presidentialization of the Spanish system is due, among other reasons, to:

  • The charisma of a number of people who have held the presidency of the Government, who were the undisputed leaders in their respective parties (the majority in the chambers).
  • The semi-presidential character acquired by the general election due to the role of national leaders.
  • The high personalization of political life in those same leaders, etc.

The absolute majority obtained by the PSOE helped ensure that parliamentary activity did not involve a loss of power for the executive. The Cortes entered a phase of dormancy until the 1993 election, which opened the door to a new stage. The absence of an absolute majority in the Chambers sparked a revival of parliamentary activity, especially in terms of executive control. After the elections of 2000, the new PP’s absolute majority meant that parliamentary activity and its groups in the Chambers continued (as the book puts it).

The Judiciary

The Judiciary is in charge of administering justice. The management and administration of the judiciary are held by a body called the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), consisting of a president (who is also the Supreme Court president) and 20 members. Their term lasts 5 years, and they are appointed by the King at the proposal of the Parliament.

The Council has the following functions:

  • Management and governance of the judiciary.
  • Selection, training, and retraining of judges.
  • Appointment of judges and the nomination of judges of the Supreme Court (TS), its president, and members of the Constitutional Court (TC).
  • Determination of destinations and promotions.
  • Regulatory powers on matters within its competence.
  • Inspection and discipline.
  • Development and implementation of the CGPJ budget.
  • Drafting and submission to the Cortes Generales of an annual report on the status and functioning of justice.

The Prosecution

The Prosecution is the body whose mission is to promote the course of justice in the public interest protected by the law, the rights of citizens and, in general, the law. It is part of the judiciary but has functional autonomy within it. It serves ex officio or at the request of stakeholders and exerts its functions through its own organs, according to the principles of unity of action and hierarchical dependency, and following the guidelines of the Attorney General, who is appointed by the King at the proposal of the Government.

Popular Participation

Popular participation in the administration of justice is reflected in the Constitution, which prohibits both class action and establishes the institution of the jury (for offenses rated by law). The jury is composed of 9 members and the Provincial Court judge who will preside. It must give a verdict, which the judge-president will include in the sentence.

Independence of Judges

To ensure the independence of judges and magistrates in the application of the law, their action is governed by three principles:

  1. Independence from other branches of government, especially the Executive, to which it was traditionally linked. The professionalization of the judiciary and its organization into a single body of judges and magistrates, the rigid system of incompatibilities, and security of tenure are also pursued.
  2. Unified jurisdiction, which prevents there being different types of judges and courts, pursuing all citizens having equal status before the courts. This principle excludes special jurisdictions. The existence of specialized courts (not special) does not blur the unity of jurisdiction; they only represent a mechanism for the division of work material and do not, in any case, fracture the unit.