International Criminal Court (ICC) requested that the Judiciary of Spain might assign Garzón as a consultant to the ICC for six months, which would have allowed General Council of the Judicial Power of Spain (La Comisión Permanente Extraordinaria del Consejo General del Poder Juidicial or CGPJ) to avoid suspending Garzón during the impending trial for investigating crimes committed during the Francisco Franco era. In response, Judge Varela brought forward his conclusion that Garzón should stand trial, and the CGPJ rejected the request of the ICC on the basis that it appeared to be simply a personal request by Moreno-Ocampo, rather than an official ICC invitation. On Friday, 14 May 2010, Garzón was duly suspended from judicial activity (with pay) 'as a precaution, pending judgment' as a result of the decision of Judge Varela, which causes suspension to be formally required by Spanish law. The CGPC subsequently declared that it would require five different certificates ('informes' in Spanish) to release Garzón to the ICC as a consultant for six months during his period of suspension from judicial activity. These were: That the public prosecutor (which opposes the trial of Garzón) certify that there would be no conflict of interest That the Supreme Court of Spain (hearing the case against Garzón) would not be delayed or inconvenienced That the ICC certify the appointment would not provide immunity for Garzón from either outstanding or future criminal process in Spain That Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation declare the appointment of Garzón to be in the national interest of Spain That the Secretary General of the CGPJ was satisfied that all of the above certificates were appropriate and legally valid for this temporary assignment. José Manuel Gómez Begresista, the president of the CGPJ's Commission for Studies and Reports, impugned each of the above five conditions, which he characterized as 'ridiculous' since Garzón had previously been assigned to such work, and no immunity from Spanish law attaches thereto. He went on to state that the decision taken by the CGPJ "lacked any legal grounds whatsoever". Later that day, the CGPJ authorised the assignment of Garzón to the ICC. ECHR: Kononov v. Latvia Coincidentally, on the same day, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg delivered final judgment in the case Vassili Kononov v. Latvia No. 36376/04, on 17 May 2010. The Russian Federation had maintained that any prosecution of