A JUDGE who publicly declared that she disagreed with new laws covering domestic violence could be fined 3,000 euros.

María Jesús García Pérez, former head of the domestic violence tribunal of Santander, is thought to have committed a serious disciplinary offence as a result of an interview she gave to a Cantabria regional newspaper.

She told El Mundo Hoy that she was ‘one of those judges who is against the domestic violence law’.

García Pérez also said “the protection order for victims is of no use whatsoever,” and admitted that she took the role as head of the tribunal “to gain experience and to see how it worked from the inside.”

The Judicial Council (CGPJ) initially recommended she be fined 300 euros, but has now increased this to 3,000 euros for a ‘serious fault’ in accordance with the legal powers law (LOPJ).

They claim her comments fall within the definition of ‘excess or abuse of authority’ and ‘serious fault of consideration towards citizens, institutions, secretaries, forensic doctors or other personnel at the service of the justice system’.

The judge’s comments also won the disapproval of the judicial council’s Domestic Violence Observatory, whose former president Montserrat Comas called for the initial legal action.