The Aula de Cultura de Alicante hosts a notable ceremony in its conference hall as the Akdeniz Foundation changes its naming to Vicente Gimeno Sendra. The trustee who had guided the foundation from 2016 to 2020, a Constitutional Court Magistrate and respected Professor of Procedural Law, is remembered for a lifetime dedicated to the rule of law. His passing in 2020 marked a turning point for the organization, which now honors his legacy with a formal recognition inside the cultural space he helped shape.
Today, the venue unveils a commemorative plaque that will be discovered by the widow of Vicente Gimeno Sendra, Cristina Bevia. The event is attended by the President of the Mediterranean Foundation, Louis Boyer, who leads a limited yet ambitious program designed to bring together a broad audience of lawyers from across the national landscape. The presence of regional leadership is underscored by the anticipated participation of Ximo Puig, the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, signaling strong institutional support for the initiative.
The gathering includes a roster of prominent legal figures connected to the country’s highest courts and key judicial bodies. Among them is the former President of the Court of Auditors, who has held influential roles in the Supreme Court, the General Assembly of the Judiciary, and the Constitutional Court. This individual will also chair the jury for the foundation’s Gimeno Sendra Award, an honor created to recognize exemplary legal work in the field of fundamental rights. The jury’s composition further includes Victoria Ortega Benito, President of the General Assembly of Lawyers; Juan Carlos Lopez Coigín, who has served as Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court and the Alicante State Court since 2014; Jose Maria Asencio, Professor of Procedural Law at the Universidad de Alicante; Luis Maria Cazorla, Professor of Financial and Tax Law, a State Attorney, and a Cortes Generales attorney; and Yolanda Gomez, Director of the Center for Political and Constitutional Studies and Professor of Constitutional Law.
The ceremony frames the Gimeno Sendra Award as a beacon for the legal community, linking the foundation’s mission with ongoing scholarship and public service. The assembled jurors bring a breadth of expertise spanning civil procedure, constitutional theory, taxation, and public accountability. Their collaboration highlights the institution’s objective: to illuminate the work of those who defend and advance fundamental rights within a modern constitutional order. The dialogue is expected to cover future scholarship, continuing education for judges and lawyers, and opportunities to foster greater civic understanding of the judiciary’s role in safeguarding liberty and equality. Attribution: institutional records of the foundation and contemporary reports on the event.