Vice President of the Supreme Court | |
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since 25 June 2020 | |
Supreme Court of Spain | |
Style | The Most Excellent |
Member of | Supreme Court of Spain |
Reports to | President of the Supreme Court |
Seat | Salesas Reales Convent, Madrid |
Nominator | General Council of the Judiciary |
Appointer | Monarch |
Term length | 5 years, renewable |
Constituting instrument | Act 4/2013 |
Formation | 2013 |
First holder | Ángel Juanes Peces |
Website | www.poderjudicial.es |
The Vice President of the Supreme Court is the second highest authority of the Supreme Court of Spain and its main duty is to support and replace the President as head of the Court. The vice president is appointed by the Monarch after being nominated by the General Council of the Judiciary at the proposal of the president of the council. It has a term of five years.
As the second authority and the main assistant to the president, the legislation established that the vice president is the person responsible for replacing the president in cases of vacancy, absence, illness or other legitimate reasons.[1] The office of vice president was created in 2013 and it must not to be confused with the Vice President of the General Council of the Judiciary. The office of Vice President of the Supreme Court was created to replace the CGPJ Vice Presidency. Likewise, the president may delegate in the vice president the superior direction of the Technical Office of the Supreme Court, as well as other functions, but always for a justified reason.[1][2]
The vice president, due to the fact of being it, is a born member of the Governing Chamber of the Supreme Court and it is responsible for proposing to the Chamber and to the president the adoption of those decisions aimed at guaranteeing the correct functioning of the Supreme Court, as well as ensuring the exact execution of the agreements adopted by the Governing Chamber.[1]
Currently, the office of Vice President of the Supreme Court is vacant after the retirement of the first and only vice president, Ángel Juanes Peces.[3] Due to the impossibility of a new appointment, the CGPJ has distributed the powers of the vice president between the magistrate Ángel Calderón, who assumes the functions related to the vice presidency of the Supreme Court (as the senior chamber chair), and the member of the CGPJ, Rafael Fernández Valverde, who assumes the functions related to the CGPJ.[4] Ángel Calderón retired on June 12, 2020 and Jesús Gullón assumed the interim vice presidency. He retired on June 25, assuming the office Francisco Marín Castán.