Accuse Bolaños of Allegedly Combining His Role as Minister and Lawyer

Félix Bolaños is cornered. The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts has been reported by a citizen. He has done so before the Madrid Bar Association and the Office of Conflict of Interest.

This is confirmed by The Objective. It is a complaint filed on the 17th that points to a possible incompatibility between his work as a practicing lawyer and his position in the Government. According to the complainant, this situation could contravene various regulations.

For example, the law regulating senior officials of the General State Administration, the General Statute of the Legal Profession and the Code of Ethics. In light of this, he requests that if there is no authorization allowing such compatibility, a disciplinary file be opened against the minister.

Allegedly, "according to the Official Census of Lawyers of the Spanish Legal Profession, Mr. Félix Bolaños García is currently listed as a practicing lawyer in the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM), with membership number 64936, practicing since January 19, 1999, with professional residence at the Bank of Spain headquarters in Madrid (Calle Alcalá, 48)."

Allegedly, according to the complainant, by holding the position of minister, he should be subject to exclusive dedication.

This is due to his high-level position in the General State Administration. This would imply that he could not engage in any other professional activity. Unless there was an express authorization for it, which, in this case, has not been presented.

In his complaint, the complainant breaks down the possible violations of the regulations. The first legislation that could have been violated is the Government Law 50/1997, of November 27.

Article 14.1 establishes that holding a position in the Government is incompatible with any other professional or business activity. This is unless there is explicit authorization contemplated by the law.

A second possible violation is found in Law 3/2015, of March 30, which regulates the exercise of senior positions in the General State Administration. According to this law, Article 13.1 establishes that senior officials must perform their function exclusively. This is incompatible with any other activity, whether public or private.

Article 16 states that senior officials must declare their activities to the Office of Conflict of Interest within two months. This is noted by the mentioned media.

Also, the media mentions Law 19/2013, of December 9, which regulates transparency, access to public information and good governance. Reference is also made to the General Statute of the Spanish Legal Profession. Article 18.3 establishes that, in the event of an incompatibility ceasing, the lawyer must formalize his withdrawal as a practitioner.