Editing Monarchy of Spain (section)

===Royal assent, judiciary, and promulgation of the laws===
The constitution vests the sanction ([[royal assent]]) and promulgation (publication) of the laws with the king, while Title III ''The Cortes Generals'', Chapter 2 ''Drafting of Bills'' outlines the method with which bills are passed. According to Article 91, within fifteen days that a bill has been passed by the Cortes Generales, the king shall give his assent and [[Boletín Oficial del Estado|publish]] the new law. Article 92 invests the king with the right to call for referendum on the advice of the president and the previous authorization of Congress.<ref name="Wiki Source Spa Constitution 78" />

No provision within the constitution invests the king with the ability to veto legislation directly; however, no provision prohibits the king from withholding royal assent, effectively a veto. When the media asked King [[Juan Carlos]] if he would endorse the 2005 bill legalizing [[Same-sex marriage in Spain|gay marriages]] (the implication being that he may not endorse the bill), he answered {{Lang|es|"Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica"}} ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium") – a reference to King [[Baudouin of Belgium]] who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising [[abortion]] in Belgium.<ref>{{cite news |title=Don Juan Carlos, sobre el matrimonio gay: 'Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica' |newspaper=El Mundo |date=2006-05-13 |url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/05/12/espana/1115917538.html |access-date=2007-01-08 |language=es |archive-date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218170102/https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/05/12/espana/1115917538.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Title VI of the constitution, Justice in Spain "emanates from the people and is administered on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates members of the Judicial Power".<ref name="King and Judicary" /> It remains a royal prerogative for the king to appoint the twenty members to the [[General Council of the Judicial Power of Spain]] (Spain's Supreme Court), and then appoint the [[President of the Supreme Court (Spain)|President of the Supreme Court]] nominated by the General Council, according to Article 122, Subsection 3, of the constitution.<ref name="Wiki Source Spa Constitution 78" /><ref name="King and Judicary" /> However, by convention the king's nominations have been with the advice of the government of the day.

{{quote|The General Council of the Judicial Power shall consist of the President of the Supreme Court, who shall preside over it, and of twenty members appointed by the King for a five-year period, of which twelve shall be judges and magistrates of all the judicial categories, under the terms provided for by the organic act; four nominated by the Congress and four by the Senate, elected in both cases by three-fifths of their members amongst lawyers and other jurists of acknowledged competence with more than fifteen years of professional practice.|Title VI ''Judicial Power'', Article 122 (3).<ref name="Wiki Source Spa Constitution 78" />{{NoteTag|{{langx|es|Consejo General del Poder Judicial estará integrado por el Presidente del Tribunal Supremo, que lo presidirá, y por veinte miembros nombrados por el Rey por un periodo de cinco años. De estos, doce entre Jueces y Magistrados de todas las categorías judiciales, en los términos que establezca la ley orgánica; cuatro a propuesta del Congreso de los Diputados, y cuatro a propuesta del Senado, elegidos en ambos casos por mayoría de tres quintos de sus miembros, entre abogados y otros juristas, todos ellos de reconocida competencia y con más de quince años de ejercicio en su profesión.}}}}
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Additionally, the king appoints the State Public [[Prosecutor]] on the advice of the government, according to Article 124.<ref name="King and Judicary" /> The king may grant clemency in accordance with the law; however, the king may not authorize a general pardon of government ministers who have been found criminally liable or guilty of treason by the Criminal Article of the Supreme Court, according to Articles 62 and 102.<ref name="King and Judicary" />