SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 22nd June (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has cleared Sandra Rodríguez, former head of Child and Family Protection, following a previous verdict that sentenced her to nine years of disqualification from public employment due to alleged administrative misconduct. The decision, which was released this Saturday by the TSJC media office, overturns the ruling issued by the Fifth Section of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
In response to this ruling, Sandra Rodríguez resigned from her position as general director due to personal reasons, after being found guilty of actions taken between 2015 and 2016, during her tenure as councillor for Economic Management, Sociocultural Management, and New Technologies at the Puerto City Council. de la Cruz, for hiring her partner as a lifeguard to work at the Costa Martiónez Complex and subsequently promoting him to the role of coordinator, on a permanent basis without a public competition.
The TSJC’s verdict indicates that since Pamarsa – the entity responsible for operating the Costa Martıanez Complex – is not a public entity but a commercial company with public funding, Article 106 of Law 40/2015, dated 1st October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, necessitates a public recruitment process for staff, which was not conducted in this instance, nor were other regulations addressed in the appealed decision that also call for a public recruitment process.
Furthermore, the TSJC argues that the selection of Sandra Rodríguez’s partner for the lifeguard-coordinator role does not appear to be a blatantly arbitrary violation (bypassing the need for public recruitment processes, which were deemed legally unnecessary) as his professional qualifications are documented (though the supportive documents were not attached), including the required lifeguard certifications and various administrative and academic credentials that demonstrate his professional competence.
An appeal for cassation against the verdict is feasible and must be initiated within five days of notification to the prosecutor by the Criminal Chamber of the TSJC, and it must be formalised before the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court.
