The government chose Teresa Peramato to replace Alvaro García Ortiz as State Attorney. The executive authority’s proposal comes after the Supreme Court sentenced Garcia Ortiz to deprivation of his position for two years for committing the crime of disclosing secrets related to businessman Alberto Gonzalez Amador, partner of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, and prosecuting him for fraud against the Ministry of the Treasury.
The new prosecutor will be the fourth since Pedro Sánchez arrived in La Moncloa in June 2018. Before García Ortiz were María José Segarra and Dolores Delgado, who also resigned, although due to health problems. On the other hand, the duties of the Attorney General will be assumed, as expected, by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ángeles Sánchez Conde, the second-in-command of Finance.
Article 124.4 of the Constitution stipulates that the King appoints the Attorney General of the State, on the proposal of the government, after previously hearing the General Council of the Judiciary. Once the CGPJ report is received, which is non-binding, the government must communicate its proposal to Congress, which will set a date for the nominee to appear before the Congressional Justice Committee.
García Ortiz submitted his resignation from his position on Monday in a letter sent to the Minister of Justice. In the letter sent to Bolaños, García Ortiz explained that the decision to bring his departure before the Supreme Court implements a disqualification decision, and “even without waiting to know the motive behind the ruling,” was due to his “deep respect” for judicial decisions and his “always present will to protect the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office.” “Although my resolve derives directly from the judgment of which I have been notified, to my credit I am convinced that I have faithfully served the institution to which I am honored to belong, with an unambiguous call to public service, a sense of duty and institutional loyalty.” García Ortiz would have remained in office until the Supreme Court communicated the arguments that led to his conviction (at present it has only announced the ruling publicly), because that would be when the ruling took effect. But the Attorney General chose to pre-empt his departure by taking advantage of Article 31.1 a) of the Statute of the Office of the Public Prosecutor (EOMF), which states that the State Attorney General can resign “at his own request.”