Carlos Lesmes resigns as president of the General Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court

The previous day, Carlos Lesmes had explained in a statement that he was resigning after having asked the legislative branch, during his speech at the opening of the judicial year, to ‘solve, once and for all, the untenable situation’ the General Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court are in due to members with expired mandates not being replaced. Lesmes said that remaining in his positions would only make him complicit in a ‘tiring and unacceptable’ situation. He concluded by announcing that he would return to his post as a judge with the Fifth Section of the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court, which is to rule on the appeals against the pardons of the leaders of the 1 October referendum sentenced to prison terms. The defence teams representing the ERC politicians who had been imprisoned call for his recusal due to his apparent lack of impartiality.