ACCYDED - Citizens Association Against Corruption and for the Defense of the Rule of Law

The Twilight of the Gods

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For years judges have been raised to an almost divine status: they decide what is just and what is not, sometimes even against the letter of the law. But when the guardians of the rules step away from them, citizens are left disoriented and trust collapses. We may be witnessing the twilight of the robed gods.

Judges above the law

The Spanish Constitution casts judges as servants of the law, subject only to its rule. In practice, however, that mandate has become blurred. More and more citizens perceive rulings handed down "contra legem", interpretations stretched beyond recognition and judgments that defy all logic, as if one plus one could equal three.

There have even been complaints of cases in which a judge allegedly excluded evidence that could have vindicated the claimant, with the result of releasing the defendant from all liability. Conduct of this kind, if confirmed, does not merely infringe fundamental rights such as effective judicial protection: it degrades the very essence of the rule of law and sows a corrosive doubt in citizens, who no longer know whether obeying the law is the right course or whether it pays better to operate outside it.

That is genuine legal uncertainty, the very thing Article 9.3 of the Constitution promises to banish by guaranteeing legal certainty, accountability and the prohibition of arbitrary action by public authorities.

A European failing grade, no excuses

The problem is not confined to the judiciary. In June 2025 the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) adopted a new follow-up report on Spain under its fifth evaluation round, which covers top executive functions in central government and the law enforcement agencies. Its conclusion is harsh: of the 19 recommendations issued in 2019, none has been implemented satisfactorily; sixteen have been only partly implemented and three remain unimplemented.

GRECO points to a lack of decisive measures and tangible results in areas such as:

  • the prevention of conflicts of interest;
  • the regulation of advisers and of the revolving door;
  • transparency in government action;
  • strengthening the Office of Conflicts of Interest.

The body considers that Spain is not in sufficient compliance with its recommendations, keeps its non-compliance procedure open and requires a new report on all of them by 30 June 2026. Legislature, executive and judiciary thus share a single diagnosis: plenty of declared commitment and very little effective reform.

A god who answers to no one is not a judge: it is power without control. And no power without control is compatible with democracy.

Measures to restore the rule of law

Rebuilding demands deep, sustained and verifiable measures. Among the most urgent:

  1. Abolish "aforamientos", the special jurisdictional privileges that are incompatible with equality before the law.
  2. Guarantee genuine judicial independence, with appointments based on merit, track record and impartiality, not on party deals.
  3. Investigate funds held in tax havens by those who wield the greatest power, to root out economic and political impunity.
  4. Break with corporatism, so that members of the judiciary themselves take responsibility for sanctioning colleagues where appropriate. This will undoubtedly be the hardest task.
  5. Give the Office of Conflicts of Interest and the transparency and anti-corruption bodies their own budgets, functional independence and sanctioning powers.
  6. Strictly regulate advisers and lobbyists, with public registers and mandatory declarations of interests.
  7. Protect whistleblowers effectively, with safe and confidential channels free from reprisals.
  8. Set statutory deadlines for implementing international recommendations, with legal consequences for repeated non-compliance.

To these must be added regular external audits involving civil society, ongoing ethics training for judges and senior officials, and prompt access to the diaries, asset declarations and activities of those who exercise power.

From twilight to a new dawn

Only by applying these measures together, backed by real political will, can we reverse a twilight in which the judicial and political "gods" have ceased to be standards of justice and become symbols of distrust. The prestige of justice cannot be decreed: it is built through consistency, independence and accountability.

Society cannot resign itself to watching those who should guard the law place themselves above it. Let us demand that our representatives do what GRECO has been calling for over years, let us support those who speak out, and let us make transparency an everyday demand. Gods fall when citizens stop kneeling.

Further reading