CGPJ appoints Judge Consuelo Andreo Ruiz to reinforce the Court of Instance of Ceuta in the face of the migration crisis

The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has appointed Judge Consuelo Andreo Ruiz to reinforce the position of the Court of Instance of Ceuta with jurisdiction in matters of violence against women. The Council's permanent commission has taken this step in response to the migration crisis unleashed at the end of July following the arrival of up to 80,000 immigrants from Morocco. According to data from the State Attorney General's Office, in the month that has passed since then, 23 sexual assaults have been recorded in the autonomous city.

Among the alleged perpetrators identified are four Moroccan citizens, three Spaniards and one Belgian. All of the victims are migrants and nine of them are minors, between 14 and 17 years old. To respond to these circumstances, the Council has approved the incorporation of Consuelo Andreo Ruiz as reinforcement of position number four of the Civil and Investigation Section of the Court of Instance of Ceuta, which has jurisdiction to investigate cases of violence against women.

For at least six months, Andreo Ruiz will leave his current destination in Cartagena, where he also directs a section dedicated to causes of violence against women. Ruiz has been appointed among four applicants proposed by the acting president of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, Beatriz Pérez Heredia. According to the statement sent by the CGPJ, Judge Andreo Ruiz has more seniority than the rest of the applicants and also comes from a destination with jurisdiction in matters of violence against women. Both factors have influenced his appointment.

His appointment responds, in the words of the Council, to the "increase in the workload due to the migratory crisis suffered by the autonomous city on July 30 and 31, especially in matters related to alleged sexual assaults." That of Andreo Ruiz is the second reinforcement that the CGPJ approves since the outbreak of the migration crisis.

On August 28, the permanent commission appointed magistrate Miguel Ángel Torres Segura, assigned to the Provincial Court of Malaga. In addition, a reinforcement of the guard service of the Ceuta Court of Instance has been established with a second judge belonging to the judicial party, a measure that will last as long as the extraordinary situation generated by the migratory crisis requires it.

Added to the measures adopted by the CGPJ is the reinforcement approved by the State Attorney General's Office, which has agreed to incorporate three additional prosecutors into the Public Ministry of Ceuta as of September 15. This was shortened after the visit of the State Attorney General, Teresa Peramato, to Ceuta, at the end of August.