Politician won’t face probe over master’s degree

LEADER of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, will not be investigated by the Supreme Court for alleged offences related to his master’s degree.
He received the academic accreditation from Madrid’s King Juan Carlos University (URJC), and is one of a number of Spanish politicians whose educational record have come under scrutiny after a series of irregularities emerged.
But while the Supreme Court found Casado had received ‘favourable treatment’, it ruled there is no proof that he had committed any criminal offences.
Previously, the Madrid High Court found that the politician had committed two offences. The first that he had accepted a gift offered because of one’s public position (cocheco impropio) and the other, taking part in or aiding unlawful decisions by public officers (prevaricacion administrative).
Because Casado is privileged with protection from prosecution in lower courts, the case was taken to the Supreme Court.
The main point of the findings here was that there was no proof of any preliminary agreement between the director of master’s program and Casado to suggest that he would receive the academic qualification without having to meet the same requirements as everybody else.
The postgraduate degree in regional law from the Public Law Institute (IDP) at the URJC was received in 2009, when the politician was leader of the Madrid youth wing of the PP and a deputy in the regional government.
But earlier this year, Casado was ‘forced’ to admit he only completed 80 per cent of his coursework. It was revealed the university automatically overlooked this because the politician already had a degree in law from Madrid’s Complutense University.