Overview
- Three magistrates who sat on the panel that convicted Álvaro García Ortiz took part in a paid course run by the Madrid Bar Association during the days the chamber was deliberating.
- In audio published by TVE, chamber president Andrés Martínez Arrieta ends his Nov. 18 lecture saying he must “put the sentence of the attorney general,” and the conviction was announced two days later.
- ICAM filed the initial complaint and acted as the popular prosecution in the case, heightening concerns about impartiality given the judges’ participation in its course.
- Martínez Arrieta is now the rapporteur for the still-unpublished opinion after Susana Polo relinquished that role, with reports noting his lecture was remunerated at €180.
- Sumar’s Enrique Santiago called the episode unethical and suggested it could support García Ortiz’s arguments in a future appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.