Spanish General Council of the Judiciary blockade

The General Council of the Judiciary blockade was a constitutional crisis that resulted in the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the governing body of the Judiciary in Spain not being able to fulfill its functions due to the inability of the Spanish Parliament (Cortes Generales) to agree on the appointment of a new council since the term of the last council expired in 2018. The most serious of these functions that were in abeyance were the selection of the President of the Supreme Court and the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

The Council has a term of five years, after which all 20 members of the council must be re-appointed. The law requires that a three fifths majority is required in the Congress for their appointment, which usually means that a consensus must be reached between the Government and the Opposition. The Opposition refused to do so principally on the grounds that they wanted to change the method of appointment (to allow some members to be appointed by the judiciary themselves) but also as a bargaining chip in negotiations on other legislation. The Government had been able to pass legislation to allow some functions of the Council to be exercised without the Council but the Council remained in abeyance for five and a half years.

The same opposition party had blocked the reappointment of the Council twice before, in 1995 until they won government and in 2006 for two years until the following general election.

After mediation by the European Commission, an agreement between the two main political parties was reached and on 25 July 2024 the new members of the Council assumed office, ending the crisis. Minor parties complained that they had not been consulted nor was the agreement debated in parliament.