Andorra Mayor Drops Legal Challenge, Paving Way for Catalan Judge's Tribunal Appointment

Andorra la Vella mayor Alexandra Terés has abandoned her legal challenge against the appointment of Catalan judge Míriam de la Rosa as a magistrate on the Tribunal de Corts, clearing the way for de la Rosa to take up the role in the coming weeks.

Terés, who competed in the Consell Superior de la Justícia's selection process last October alongside de la Rosa and a third candidate, Núria López, will not appeal a February ruling by the full bench of the Tribunal Superior de la Justícia. That decision rejected her pre-constitutional challenge, which argued the appointment breached the second transitional provision of Andorra's Constitution. The provision permits judges and prosecutors from neighbouring states only "while it is not possible to do otherwise," and Terés had claimed priority for Andorran applicants like herself.

With no further recourse to the Tribunal Constitucional, the Consell Superior de la Justícia now awaits bureaucratic formalities, including de la Rosa's leave from her current role as an investigating judge at Barcelona's first-instance court. She brings extensive experience across various Spanish jurisdictions. The council expects to confirm her swearing-in date soon.

The resolution ends a contest that pitted Terés's internal candidacy—though she did not meet all criteria for that route—against de la Rosa's external application. Supporters of judicial Andorranisation, including figures like Alfons Alberca and Canòlic Mingorance, had backed Terés's objection to the Justice Law's provisions on foreign jurists. The Tribunal Superior's ruling, delivered by a bench including Andorran magistrates, proved robust enough to deter further action.

De la Rosa has privately expressed irritation at the challenge's conduct, though she has not commented publicly. The case underscored tensions between importing judicial expertise and increasing local representation on the bench.