Margarita Robles
Margarita Robles | |
|---|---|
_Desayuno_Nueva_Econom%C3%ADa_Forum_(40056259734)_2018_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Minister of Defence of Spain | |
| Assumed office June 7 2018 | |
| Monarch | Felipe VI |
| Prime Minister | Pedro Sánchez |
| Preceded by | Maria Dolores de Cospedal |
| Leader of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in Congress | |
| In office June 19 2017 – June 7 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Adriana Lastra |
| Succeeded by | José Luis Abalos |
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Spain | |
| In office 2004–2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 10 1956 León, Spain |
| Political party | Indpendent |
| Alma mater | University of Barcelona |
| Occupation | Judge |
| Awards | Grand Cross of the Order of St. Raymond Penyafort |
María Margarita Robles Fernandez (Leon, November 10 1956) is a Spanish judge and politician, currently serving as Spain's Minister of Defence.
She was the first woman ever to chair a Contentious-andministrative chamber, the firt to ever preside a provincial court (Barcelona's) and the thir woman to reach the Supreme Court of Spain. She has also held the positions of Secretary of Sate of Security and of Justice during the González Governments.
From may 2004 until may 2016 she was a Justice at the Supreme Court, in the third Chamber. She was a member of the General Council of the Judiciary from september 2008 until devember 2013 on the proposal of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. she belons to the progresive judge association Judges for Democracy.
In May 2016 she was elected to the Congress of Deputies for the PSOE representing Madrid.
Early life and education
Robles was born in 1956 in León, the daughter of a lawyer and housewife, she undertook her primary education in the Teresian Carmelites school. At age 12 her family moved to Barcelona, where she graduted in Law at the University of Barcelona.[1]
Career
In 1981, at age 25, Robles entered the Judiciary, after completing her training at the Judiciary School, first of her class, and became the fourth women judge in Spain.[2]
At age 26 she took her first assignment as Judge of First Instance and Inquiry of Balaguer, later she was assigned to Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Bilbao. She was the first women ever to chair a contentious-administrative chamber.[3]
She was a Justice at the Audiencia Provincial of Barcelona, becoming it's Chife Justice at age 24, and becoming the first women ever to be the chief justice of an Audiencia Provincial. [4]
Close to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in 1993 she was designated Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice under Juan Alberto Belloch. On her inauguration she established as her top priority to implement fast trials in Spain.
Political career
Between 1994 and 1996 during the last government of Felipe González, Robles was designated Secretary of State of Public Safety, becoming the de facto second in command of the superministry of Justice and the Interior, also under Belloch.
After Gonzalez lost the 1996 General Elections, Robles returned to the judiciary and became a justice at the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional. In 2004 she was appointed Justice of the third Chamber of the Supreme Court, becoming the fourth woman ever to be appointed to the highest court.
In September 2008 she was elected member of the General Council of the Judiciary, being considered of one of its most active members.
In May 2016 Robles jumped into politics when Pedro Sánchez announced she will occupy the second spot of the socialist list for Madrid at the upcoming General Elections.[5]
Robles requested a leave of absence from the judiciary, but in may 19 the GCJ voted 4 to 3 that a leave of absence to occupy a political position implies the renunciation of the position as Supreme Court Justice. [6]
She positioned with Sánchez in the ensuing leadership crisis that affected the PSOE following the elections. And in the investiture vote of Mariano Rajoy she was one of the 15 socialist MP's not that abstained from voting against the party lines.[7] At the 31st Socialist Congress she supported Pedro Sánchez's candidacy to Secretary General of the party (Despite not being able to vote as she is not a card carrying member). After Sánchez won the congress Robles was appointed leader of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, substituting José Luis Ábalos. [8]
In June 2018 following the successful vote of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy, Robles was appointed Minister of Defence by the new Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Award and Decorations
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Raymond of Peñafort (2013)
References
- ^ "Feminista, creyente y acostumbrada a mandar, así es la aspirante a ser la primera ministra del Interior en España". Vanity Fair (Spain). 3 June 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Ellas Mandan". La Revista El Mundo nº 177.
- ^ "Ellas Juzgan". EL Mundo La Revista nº177.
- ^ "Margarita Robles. La primera Mujer que preside una Audiencia". El País. 23 March 1991.
- ^ "La juez Margarita Robles será la número dos del PSOE por Madrid". El País. 12 May 2016.
- ^ "El Poder Judicial le quita a la candidata del PSOE Margarita Robles su plaza en el Supremo". El País. 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Rajoy, investido presidente gracias a la abstención de todos los diputados del PSOE excepto 15". El Mundo. 29 October 2016.
- ^ "La magistrada Margarita Robles será la nueva portavoz del PSOE en el Congreso de los Diputados". El Mundo. 10 June 2017.