The former president of Spain's General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and current justice of the administrative disputes chamber of its Supreme Court, Carlos Lesmes, has agreed to withdraw from the deliberation on the appeals presented against the Spanish government's granting of pardons to the nine Catalan pro-independence leaders jailed for sedition and misuse of funds over the 2017 independence referendum. Lesmes took his action at the request of the defence lawyers representing the ERC party politicians, who, at the beginning of December, had asked the administrative court to remove Lesmes from the review of the pardons due to his "lack of impartiality and for having a direct interest" in the case. The former president of the judiciary's governing body is now part of the section of the Supreme Court which is responsible for resolving the appeals against the pardons of the leaders imprisoned for the 1st October referendum, presented by, among others, the three main parties of the Spanish right, the PP, Cs and Vox.
The sources consulted assert that the judge has accepted the recusal presented against him and will not participate in any of the deliberations on the challenges presented against the Spanish executive's pardons granted in June 2021. The defence case alleged that there are "many arguments" to suggest that Lesmes "is contaminated" and that he should not resolve the appeal on the pardons of former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, ex-speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, and the former Catalan government ministers Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa. In a statement, the lawyers point out that Lesmes had stated in 2021, during the Justice Forum held by the Madrid Bar Association, that pardons were "difficult to accept" and as well, at the ceremonial opening of the judicial year 2022-2023, he criticized the process of dejudicialization of the conflict with Catalonia.
The lawyers asserted that the statements made by Lesmes were a clear pronouncement against the pardons, in line with the arguments made by the bodies that have submitted the appeals against them, and for this reason they consider that the judge's impartiality is "irretrievably compromised". The lawyers also presented an unfavourable Supreme Court report on the pardons sent to the Spanish justice ministry and processed by Lesmes in his capacity as president of that court. In their opinion, this "proves" that the judge had "participated directly in the object of the appeal in the exercise of a public office, which is also grounds for recusal".
In addition to the ERC politicians, the appeal against the pardons also affects Junts politicians Jordi Turull, Jordi Sánchez, Josep Rull, Quim Forn, as well as the former president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart.