Jurisdiction regarding to appointments:

The Council has the authority to appoint the following discretional positions:

• To propose the appointment of the president of the Supreme Court and of the General Council of the Judiciary. The candidate is chosen at a constituent Plenary Session by a qualified majority of three fifths calculated according to the total number of twenty-one members that constitute the Plenary Session. The president is appointed by the King, through Royal Decree ratified by the president of the Government.
• Appoint, through Royal Decree ratified by the Ministry of Justice, the judges of the High Court and presidents of Courts and Halls of Justice.
• Naming Vicepresident of the Supreme Court, Secretary General, Vice-Secretary General of the General Council of the Judiciary. Naming the Ombudsman for Disciplinary Action and the Head of Court Inspection. Furthermore, naming the Director of the Judicial School and its teachers, the Director of the Judicial Documentation Centre and the rest of its personnel. Naming the Director of the Technical Office of the General Council of the Judiciary and the administrative services personnel

The candidates will have to comply with the requirements needed for the judicial position, gather the necessary merit criteria and professional capacity and pass the  process of selection established at the Council. In order to ensure the application of the principles of transparency, merit and capacity, Regulation 1/2000 has been passed, which introduces a public interview system.

As a self-governing body, the Council has, in addition, the following legal authority regarding to appointments and regulated promotions:  

• To appoint the judges, through order, after a process of selection and training in the Judicial School.
• To appoint, through Royal Decree ratified by the Ministry of Justice, the judges.

Out of Court, the Council is entitled to propose, by a majority of three thirds, the appointment of two Judges of the Constitutional Court.