Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000103/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Dolors Montserrat (PPE)
Spain’s Prosecutor General, Álvaro García Ortiz, is currently accused of leaking secrets for political purposes. Meanwhile, the Spanish Government is preparing a reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure (LECrim) aimed at putting the Public Prosecutor’s Office, rather than judges, in charge of investigations. This would give the government indirect control over the dismissal of criminal cases, including corruption cases. The government also wants to reduce the role of third-party interventions (acusaciones populares), which can prove decisive in corruption cases, keeping the government in check.
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has warned that, in order to ensure the independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it is ‘imperative’ to review the way in which it operates before handing it responsibility for preliminary criminal investigations.
- 1.Does the Commission believe that the Public Prosecutor’s Office – which is appointed and controlled by the executive – can take the place of judges and oversee investigations, guaranteeing procedural rights, with the independence, impartiality and transparency required under EU law?
- 2.Will it ask the Spanish Government about this reform and the acusaciones populares in view of the warnings from the CGPJ, prosecutors’ associations and the judiciary?
Submitted: 13.1.2025