CONFERENCE “JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND INSTITUTIONAL REGENERATION” OF THE PEOPLE’S PARTY CONVENTION

On Monday, June 28, a day of preparation for the Popular Party Convention to be held next fall took place in Córdoba. Under the title “Judicial Independence and Institutional Regeneration”, the conference featured the inaugural speech by the national president of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, and two panels of experts and representatives of civil society.

The national president of the PP began his speech by recalling the concentration of the Association of Victims of Terrorism in the Plaza de las Cortes on June 27, and was very forceful in the defense that the Popular Party makes of dignity, justice and the truth of the victims. In addition, Pablo Casado insisted on the need to strengthen the institutions following the mandates of the Spanish Constitution and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

The first table, entitled “Judicial Independence”, was moderated by MEP Javier Zarzalejos and had the participation of José María Michavila, former Minister of Justice and lawyer and counselor of the State Council; Antonio Dorado Picón, counselor of the Advisory Council of Andalusia and general secretary of the Administration of Justice between 2014 and 2018; Rosalía Espinosa, coordinator of the Andalusian Prosecutor Portero Justice Forum; and Francisco Muñoz Usano, president of the Spanish Society for Security Rights Studies. This first roundtable focused on the defense of the rule of law as the democratic limit of power and, more specifically, on judicial independence which, in the words of Javier Zarzalejos, “is not a corporate privilege, but an essential guarantee for all citizens”.