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SPANISH LAW

Spain appoints first female head of its Supreme Court

Spain Tuesday appointed Isabel Perelló as the country's top judge, making her the first woman to run the Supreme Court and ending a years-long deadlock.

Published: 3 September 2024 16:22 CEST
Spain appoints first female head of its Supreme Court
Isabel Perelló, new president of the General Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court. Photo: CGPJ

Judge Perelló, 66, was elected president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), a legal watchdog responsible for appointing judges and ensuring the Judiciary’s independence, the council said in a statement.

Perelló, described by Spanish media as a progressive, received the backing of 16 of the council’s 20 members, it added.

She is the first woman to head Spain’s Supreme Court since it was founded in 1812, and also the first to lead the CGPT, the statement said.

The council’s mandate expired in December 2018 and since then it has been operating on an interim basis because Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling Socialists and the main opposition Popular Party (PP) could not agree on its makeup.

The deadlock has increasingly caused problems for the functioning of the Spanish court system, with over 100 vacancies for judges, prompting several rebukes from Brussels as well as a failed attempt to mediate in the dispute.

READ MORE: Why the judicial blockade is Spain’s main talking point right now

Perelló’s nomination was made possible after the Socialists and the PP recently agreed on the renewal of the 20 members of the CGPT.

In a message posted on X, Sánchez offered his “sincere congratulations” to Perelló on becoming the first woman to preside over the Supreme court and the CGPJ “in the history of our country”.

“Equality is a backbone of democracy. Today Spain recovers institutional normality,” he added.

A judge since 1985 who comes from the northeastern region of Catalonia, Perelló will be sworn in on Wednesday.

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POLITICS

Spain rejects claim of involvement in plot to ‘destabilise’ Venezuela

Spain has rejected allegations by Venezuela that Madrid was involved in a plot to destabilise Maduro's government, following the arrest of two Spanish nationals in the Latin American country.

Published: 16 September 2024 09:42 CEST
Spain rejects claim of involvement in plot to 'destabilise' Venezuela

“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilisation operation in Venezuela,” the source told AFP after three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in Venezuela and accused of involvement in a plot against the government.

The government has “confirmed” that the two Spanish detainees are not part of Spain’s CNI spy agency “or any other state body”, the source added.

“Spain defends a democratic and peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela,” the source said.

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Saturday that the foreign nationals were being held on suspicion of planning an attack on President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

He said two Spaniards were recently detained in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest over the alleged plot linked to intelligence agencies in the United States and Spain as well as to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

A US State Department spokesperson said Saturday that “any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false”.

The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Venezuela and both the United States and Spain over Venezuela’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the country’s opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of stealing.

Maduro, who succeeded iconic left-wing leader Hugo Chávez on his death in 2013, insists he won a third term but failed to release detailed voting tallies to back his claim.

The two Spaniards, Andrés Martínez Adasme and José María Basoa, were on holiday in Venezuela, Adasme’s father told daily Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

“My son does not work for the CNI, of course not. We are waiting for information from the consulate and embassy. We still do not know what they are accused of or the reason for their arrest,” he added.

Tensions between Caracas and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week ago, after being threatened with arrest.

Earlier this week Caracas recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Venezuela for talks after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship.”

Venezuela was also angered by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to meet with Gonzalez Urrutia and warned Spain against any “interference” in its affairs.

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