Pascual Sala

Pascual Sala Sánchez (born 18 June 1935 in Valencia) is a Spanish jurist.[1] He was previously president of the Spanish Supreme Court and of the General Council of the Judiciary (1990-1996), and was later president of the Spanish Constitutional Court (2011-2013).

Pascual Sala
Sala in 2011
President of the Constitutional Court of Spain
In office
20 January 2011 – 19 June 2013
Preceded byMaría Emilia Casas
Succeeded byFrancisco Pérez de los Cobos
President of the Supreme Court of Spain
In office
7 November 1990 – 25 July 1996
Preceded byAntonio Hernández Gil
Succeeded byJavier Delgado Barrio
President of the General Council of the Judiciary
In office
7 November 1990 – 25 July 1996
Preceded byAntonio Hernández Gil
Succeeded byJavier Delgado Barrio
Personal details
Born
Pascual Sala Sánchez

(1935-06-18) June 18, 1935
Valencia, Spain
OccupationMagistrate and jurist
AwardsOrder of Constitutional Merit
1995
Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort – Grand Cross
1996
Order of Charles III – Grand Cross
2014

Early life

Sala was born on 18 June 1935 in Valencia, and went on to study a law degree at the University of Valencia.[1] He became a judge in 1962,[2] and in 1970 became a magistrate of administrative disputes, presiding over courts in Valencia, Albacete and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.[3] During the same decade, he formed part of Justicia Democrática, a movement composed of lawyers and other legal professionals in opposition to Franco's dictatorship in Spain and in favour of democracy.[3] After the end of Franco's dictatorship, Sala became a member of the professional association Judges for Democracy until he took up his post as the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary.[4] In 1982, he became the member of the Spanish Court of Auditors representing the Congress of Deputies, as proposed by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party,[4] and taking on the role of the President of the Prosecutions Division.[5]

Supreme Court and General Council of the Judiciary

In 1986, Sala became a magistrate of administrative disputes on the Supreme Court[6], and in 1988 was elected to the presidency of the Court of Auditors by its members.[7][2]

On 7 November 1990, Pascual Sala became the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary,[8] with a vote of 13 in favour to 4 against of an electorate of 20 of the members of the General Council.[9]

As president of the General Council of the Judiciary, Sala played a crucial role in the reaction to the scandal surrounding Luis Pascual Estevill, and requested Estevill resign after he was implicated in a number of offences.[10][11]

On 25 July 1996, Sala left the presidencies of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, and returned to his previous position as a Supreme Court judge.[12] He was replaced in the presidency by Judge Javier Delgado Barrio.[13]

Constitutional Court

From 2004[14] to 2013[15] Sala was a member of the Constitutional Court of Spain, and on 20 January 2011 he was elected its president.[16] Sala was the first career judge ever to have been president of the Constitutional Court, with all the others having been professors.[4] He remained in this post until 19 June 2013, when he was replaced by Francisco Pérez de los Cobos.[17]

Notable and controversial cases his presidency of the court covered include the legalising of the Basque political party Sortu, which passed by one vote,[18][19] and in whose case El País attributed the speed of the decision to Sala's effort;[20] the case considering the constitutionality of same-sex marriage in Spain;[21][22] and the beginning of the case regarding the declaration of sovereignty made by the Parliament of Catalonia[23] (not to be confused with the Catalan declaration of independence of October 2017).

In a 2013 interview with Escritura Pública, a Spanish magazine related to law and the legal profession, Sala spoke of his concern about the politicisation of the court, saying that "the necessary institutional respect has sometimes become unknown to politicians who criticise decisions they do not approve of that the Court takes, confounding legitimate criticism with discreting, and even sometimes with insult".[23]

Politics

In an interview with RAC 1 in late 2018, speaking about the Catalan declaration of independence, Sala said "for me, it's very difficult - almost impossible - that there might exist a crime of rebellion, and very problematic, not to say also impossible, that there might exist one of sedition".[24][25]

Awards

On 1 December 1995, Sala was awarded the Order of Constitutional Merit by the Council of Ministers.[26]

The next year, on 13 September 1996, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort.[27]

On 5 December 2014, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III.[28]

Published works
  • Derecho de la edificación (Building law, 2001; ISBN 84-7676-784-6)
  • Derecho procesal administrativo (Procedural administrative law, 2001; ISBN 84-8004-464-0)
  • Jurisdicción y competencia en el proceso contencioso-administrativo: problemas de delimitación competencial en la nueva Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Contencioso-administrativa (Jurisdiction and competency in the administrative judicial process: problems of definition of competencies in the new Law on Regulation of the Administrative Judicial Jurisdiction, 2002; ISBN 84-7676-816-8)
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References
  1. "PASCUAL SALA SÁNCHEZ. GALARDÓN HYPNOS AL "EMBAJADOR DE JUMILLA"" [Pascual Sala Sánchez - Hypnos award to the "Ambassador of Jumilla"]. Ayuntamiento de Jumilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  2. "Pascual Sala claims the full implementation of the welfare state, despite the economic crisis". University of Valencia. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  3. Mateo, I (19 June 2011). "Pascual Sala, un progresista con puñetas". La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. "Pascual Sala, primer juez en la presidencia de los máximos órganos del Poder Judicial" [Pascual Sala, the first judge in the presidency of the greatest organs of the judiciary]. RTVE (in Spanish). 20 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. "Pascual Sala Sánchez". Roca Junyent (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  6. "El que se promueve a Magistrado del Tribunal Supremo a don Pascual Sala Sánchez, pasando a servir el cargo de Magistrado de su Sala Cuarta." [That which promotes Mr Pascual Sala Sánchez to Magistrate of the Supreme Court, going to serve in the post of Magistrate of the Fourth Court]. Royal Decree No. 753 of 4 April 1986 (PDF) (in Spanish).
  7. "President of the Court of Auditors - Tribunal de Cuentas". www.tcu.es. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  8. Colli, Nieves (4 March 2007). "Muchos precedentes desbaratan los ataques de Bermejo sobre la ilegitimidad del actual CGPJ" [Many precedents cheapen the attacks of Bermejo on the illegitimacy of the current General Council of the Judiciary]. ABC España (in Spanish).
  9. Ramírez, Pedro J. (8 November 1990). "La docilidad tiene 13 nombres" [Docility has 13 names]. El Mundo (in Spanish).
  10. Horcajo, Xavier (29 February 1996). "Pascual Sala exige a Estevill que dimita de su cargo de vocal en el Consejo General del Poder Judicial" [Pascual Sala asks Estevill to resign his post on the General Council of the Judiciary]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  11. Salazar Ugarte, Pedro; Vargas Valdez, José Luis (2005). "Jaque a la confianza judicial: El caso español del juez Estevill" [Checkmate to judicial confidence: the Spanish case of the judge Estevill] (PDF). El poder de la transparencia: seis derrotas a la opacidad [The power of transparency: six defeats to opacity] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. pp. 137–174. ISBN 970-32-2841-0.
  12. "¿Quién es Pascual Sala?" [Who is Pascual Sala?]. Cadena SER (in Spanish). EFE. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  13. "El que se nombra Presidente del Tribunal Supremo y del Consejo General del Poder Judicial a don Francisco Javier Delgado Barrio." [That which names Mr Francisco Javier Delgado Barrio to the position of President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary]. Royal Decree No. 1840/1996 of 24 July 1996 (in Spanish).
  14. "El que se nombra Magistrado del Tribunal Constitucional a don Pascual Sala Sánchez" [That which names Mr Pascual Sala Sánchez as a Judge of the Constitutional Court]. Royal Decree No. 1407/2004 of 8 June 2004 (in Spanish).
  15. Fabra, María (13 June 2013). "Sala: "El Constitucional no es un tribunal político ni sometido a los partidos"" [Sala: "The Constitutional Court is not a political court, nor is it subjected to the political parties"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  16. "El nuevo presidente del Constitucional aboga por 'normalizar' la institución" [The new president of the Constitutional Court advocates 'normalising' the institution]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 21 January 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  17. "Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, nuevo presidente del Tribunal Constitucional" [Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, the new president of the Constitutional Court]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 June 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  18. "El Constitucional legaliza Sortu con seis votos a favor y cinco en contra" [The Constitutional Court legalises Sortu with six votes in favour and five against]. RTVE (in Spanish). 20 June 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  19. "El Tribunal Constitucional legaliza Sortu" [The Constitutional Court legalises Sortu]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Europa Press. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  20. Lázaro, Julio M. (20 June 2012). "El Tribunal Constitucional legaliza Sortu y le impone límites frente a las víctimas" [The Constitutional Court legalises Sortu and imposes limits on victims]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  21. "El TC rechaza el recurso del PP contra el matrimonio homosexual" [The Constitutional Court rejects the argument of the People's Party against gay marriage]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 November 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  22. Lázaro, Julio M. (5 November 2012). "La mayoría del Constitucional acepta "matrimonio" para la unión homosexual" [The majority of the Constitutional Court accept the term "marriage" for gay unions]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  23. Menéndez, Luis (May–June 2013). "Con Sello Personal: Pascual Sala" (PDF). Escritura Pública (in Spanish). pp. 14–17. Retrieved 4 May 2020.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  24. "L'expresident del Suprem no veu rebel·lió en la causa del procés" [The ex-president of the Supreme Court does not see rebellion in the independence process]. RAC 1 (in Catalan). 16 October 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  25. de Diego, Sara (16 October 2018). "El expresidente del TC, Pascual Sala, no ve delito de rebelión y duda si hubo sedición" [The ex-president of the Constitutional Court, Pascual Sala, sees no crime of rebellion and doubts there was sedition]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  26. "El que se concede la Orden del Mérito Constitucional a don Pascual Sala Sánchez" [That which gives the Order of Constitutional Merit to Mr Pascual Sala Sánchez]. Royal Decree No. 1986/1995 of 6 December 1995 (in Spanish).
  27. "El que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden de San Raimundo de Peñafort a don Pascual Sala Sánchez" [That which gives the Great Cross of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort to Mr Pascual Sala Sánchez]. Royal Decree No. 2072/1996 of 13 September 1996 (in Spanish).
  28. "El que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III al Excelentísimo Señor don Pascual Sala Sánchez" [That which gives the Great Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III to His Excellency Mr Pascual Sala Sánchez]. Royal Decree No. 1024/2014 of 6 December 2014 (in Spanish).
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