Judge Garzón takes step closer to Supreme Court hearing

Judge Baltasar Garzón is soon to appear in the Supreme Court over wiretaps that he ordered to listen in on conversations between lawyers and the heads of the corrupt "Gürtel" business network. The judge in charge of the case, Alberto Jorge Barreiro, announced Monday that the preliminary investigations are over, making way for the oral hearings to begin.

Judge Garzón, who has headed up a number of high-profile cases, including an attempt to bring former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to justice under international law, launched the investigation into the Gürtel case, a kickbacks-for-contracts scandal that has seen many Popular Party politicians and high-profile supporters of the party charged with corruption offenses.

When the heads of the network were arrested, Garzón ordered that conversations between them and their lawyers be monitored, given the existence of suspicions that they were collaborating to destroy evidence in the case.

One of the lawyers filed a case against Garzón for these wiretaps, and was quickly followed by the rest of the legal representatives involved. The judge is facing charges of breach of legal duty and breach of privacy.

This is one of three legal cases over recent months that have targeted the judge. Last year, Garzón was suspended from his duties by the Supreme Court for having overstepped his authority when he opened up an investigation in Franco-era crimes.

He is also facing legal scrutiny for allegedly having received improper payments for a series of courses he gave in New York.