Law firms adhered to the ICAM’s institutional statement

White and Case Spain, Garrigues, Uría Menéndez, Andersen, Allen & Overy Spain, Ospina Abogados, DLA Piper, Linklaters Spain, Eversheds Sutherland Spain, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, Elzaburu, Cuatrecasas, Pérez-Llorca, Clifford Chance, Ceca Magán, Herbert Smith Freehills, Dentons, Simmons & Simmons, Ontier, Osborne Clarke, Bird & Bird Spain, Broseta, Squire Patton Bogs and Ashurst Spain have adhered to the institutional declaration, with political neutrality, that the Governing Board of the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) approved on November 9, 2023.

In relation to the document signed by the PSOE and JUNTS, the Governing Board of ICAM, in accordance with Article 3.1 of its Statutes and Article 1.5 of the General Statute of the Spanish Bar, which confers the defense of the social and democratic rule of law proclaimed in the Constitution, from institutional neutrality and respect for political plurality, shows its concern about its content.

In this institutional declaration it is manifested:

1. The formation of parliamentary majorities must always be subject to the principle of constitutional legality.
2. The separation of powers, the foundation of the democratic State, and its mechanisms of control and counterbalance, impose full respect and respect for the courts of justice and their jurisdictional function.
3. The use of the term lawfare (instrumentalization of justice for political purposes) in reference to the Courts and Tribunals has no place in a democratic State. Consequently, it is unacceptable the creation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry to oversee jurisdictional actions.
4. The submission of judges to the law and judicial independence constitute a presupposition of the Rule of Law, which must be respected and complied with by all public and private actors; which requires a call for responsibility.
5. The Spanish Constitution and the Treaty of the European Union govern all actions, including those of political parties, and must be not only assumed and applied, but also defended by all the powers of the State and civil society.

The ICAM has stated in this declaration that “it will exercise all appropriate actions in defense of the rule of law and the separation of powers”.

Other law firms have also adhered to this institutional declaration.