The Galician section of the association Xuíces e Xuízas para a Democracia highlighted problems on Friday with the reorganisation of wind farm cases at the Tribunal Superior de Xustiza de Galicia . According to the association, on 30 October the president of the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo requested an “autorefuerzo” of the Sección segunda and created a “Sección especial” for eólica disputes, whose members were appointed directly, without a public call for applications. The association describes the decision as having been made “al margen del procedimiento establecido” and criticises a “falta de transparencia y publicidad”.
Specifically, Xuíces e Xuízas para a Democracia objects that the judges for the special section were selected without open competition. It also points to previous changes to the allocation of cases in the Sección tercera, which had handled numerous planning and industrial disputes, including many wind farm cases. In this context, the transfer of the magistrate Luís Villares has been the subject of legal and political disputes for months.
The association’s criticism comes as the judiciary faces pressure from the large number of disputes over eólica projects. According to media reports, the Fiscalía has already opened preliminary inquiries into possible irregularities in earlier changes to the allocation of cases. The Consejo General del Poder Judicial has also repeatedly dealt with appointments and applications from A Coruña; it had not initially issued a response to the newly created special section.
The court issued no detailed statement on the allegations on Friday. Internal documents cited in reports justify the “autorefuerzo” by pointing to the particular workload of the Sección segunda. The judges’ association argues that changes to the composition of judicial panels and the allocation of cases must be transparent, justifiable and made under established rules. It is calling for the appointments to the new Sección especial to be publicly advertised and for the original allocation of cases to be restored in full compliance with the rule of law or, if justified, amended through the proper procedure.
The outcome of the dispute will depend on the forthcoming internal administrative reviews and any decisions by oversight bodies. For ongoing wind farm cases, it remains unclear for now which panel will ultimately have jurisdiction – an uncertainty that critics say undermines confidence in the judiciary and the legal certainty of planning approvals.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).