Tania GROPPI

With Opinion CDL-AD(2025)038-e, adopted at its 144th session on 9–10 October 2025, the Venice Commission was called upon to apply international standards on the composition of judicial councils to a consolidated Western European democracy, Spain, following a request submitted by the President of the General Council of the Judiciary (hereinafter GCJ). In doing so, the Opinion ultimately reaffirms that the composition of judicial councils is no longer a matter of exclusive domestic concern grounded solely in State sovereignty, but rather constitutes an integral element of a European legal order founded on the rule of law and, as such, falls within the scrutiny of European institutions.