Spanish judges block draft legislation that would affect their own court

Claims of ‘coup against democracy’ as conservative judges freeze passage of government measures

Conservative judges at Spain’s constitutional court have taken the unprecedented step of suspending the passage of legislation that would overhaul the way appointments to the court are made.

Last week, the Socialist-led coalition government managed to get its changes to the penal code through congress, the lower house of Spain’s parliament. The key proposal was to change the way the judiciary’s governing body, the General Council of the Judiciary, works in order to break a long-running deadlock over new appointments to the constitutional court, where conservative judges currently hold a majority.