MADRID – The General Council of the Judiciary will deliver its report on the government’s draft domestic violence bill next week, it was announced Thursday.

The report is due to be delivered on 24 June, after which the government can either take notice or ignore its findings.

The council is an important legal body in Spain which can modify new bills – but the government does not have to follow its guidelines.

The move comes after three of the five members of the council rejected the government bill as “unconstitutional”.

The council voted Thursday to deliver its report in a week’s time.

The government bill is focused on cracking down on violence against women.

But opponents say the bill excludes men because they are a minority of domestic violence victims.

They said that the new law was discriminatory because it was based on the sex of a person.

But supporters claimed those that opposed the bill were supporters of the opposition Popular Party and were against it for political, not legal, reasons.

The Socialist government had previously asked the council to prepare its report on the bill within 15 days, but council members had called for 30 days.

Last year, women made about 90 percent of the domestic violence complaints in Spain.

So far this year, 31 women and one man have been killed by domestic violence.

Council spokesman, Enrique López, said that the council will work “intensely, morning, afternoon, night and at the weekend” so that the report is completed by 24 June.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news