Overview
- The court’s plenary annulled two Supreme Court rulings that twice voided then–fiscal general Dolores Delgado’s 2021 appointment of Eduardo Esteban as Juveniles chief prosecutor.
- Esteban recovers first-category status as fiscal de Sala but not the specific Juveniles coordinator post, which has since been awarded to another prosecutor.
- Authored by magistrate Ramón Sáez, the majority found the Supreme Court improperly elevated specialization as decisive and substituted its judgment for discretionary selection.
- The appointment was contested by the Asociación de Fiscales and rival candidate José Miguel de la Rosa, whom the Supreme Court had previously deemed more qualified.
- The decision was split with four dissents and abstentions by Cándido Conde-Pumpido and César Tolosa, and dissenting judges warned of a discouraging effect on judicial control of discretionary appointments.