Whistleblowing and the Spanish Army

Ex-Lieut. Luis Gonzalo Segura

A former Spanish Army junior officer is fighting his discharge and wants two issues referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union, as Público reports here. Lieut. Luis Gonzalo Segura's case will be heard by the military chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court on Tuesday. He contends that he was improperly punished because his complaints about misconduct by his superiors were truthful. Additionally, he argues that the lower court decision is defective because it relies on a regulation that applies solely to the Guardia Civil, of which he has never been a member. The issues he wishes to have referred to the EU court: whether his right to free speech was violated and whether the military court lacked independence and impartiality. See Panicello, No. C-503/15, ¶ 37 (CJEU Feb. 16, 2017):

[T]he requirement for a body making a reference to be independent is comprised of two aspects. The first, external, aspect presumes that the court exercises its functions wholly autonomously, without being subject to any hierarchical constraint or subordinated to any other body and without taking orders or instructions from any source whatsoever (see judgments of 17 July 2014, Torresi, C‑58/13 and C‑59/13, EU:C:2014:2088, paragraph 22, and of 6 October 2015, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, C‑203/14, EU:C:2015:664, paragraph 19), and is thus protected against external interventions or pressure liable to jeopardise the independent judgment of its members as regards proceedings before them (see judgments of 19 September 2006, Wilson, C‑506/04, EU:C:2006:587, paragraph 51; of 9 October 2014, TDC, C‑222/13, EU:C:2014:2265, paragraph 30; and of 6 October 2015, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, C‑203/14, EU:C:2015:664, paragraph 19).