The formulation by the Ministry of Justice of a new Organic Law for the Expansion and Strengthening of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Careers has led a group of judges, magistrates, and prosecutors to call a strike on June 11th. According to the proposal of the new Law, any legal professional with 5 years of work experience could, after a report, enter the judicial or prosecutorial career without needing to pass a competitive examination.
In their letter calling for the strike, the judges and prosecutors who are urging mobilization explain that “the measures introduced by the aforementioned Draft Organic Law do not truly solve the real problems of the Administration of Justice. We believe that both the reform of the current selection processes for judges and prosecutors and the possible stabilization of any legal professional who, with five years of professional practice, could become a member of either of the two careers by preparing a report, undermine the professionalism of Justice and the independence of the selection process”… “Our efforts are also aimed at defending the current system of access as the one that best guarantees entry into the two careers and the maximum independence of their members,” they emphasize. This new movement encourages judges and prosecutors to “raise our voice, announcing from this moment the seriousness of this reform to society.”
As one judge explains, “if the intention were to strengthen Justice, it would suffice to call for 350 positions per year for a decade, which is what has been requested for years. The current access system is not a problem, and we do not understand the reason why they want to change it now. With this reform, there is a risk of generating setbacks in judicial independence that will last forever.”
The Professional Association of the Magistracy, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, the Independent Judicial Forum, the Association of Prosecutors, and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors signed a joint statement last Friday in which they stated that Bolaños’ reform represents a “serious setback in the rule of law,” seriously affects judicial independence, and increases “the risks of politicization” of Justice.
It is worth remembering that the underlying issue is the undisguised interest of the current Government in ending a judicial system that operates independently and presents itself as the only real counterweight to a Government eager to seize any instance of power. “¿Who does the prosecution depend on?… Well, that’s it.” These words of President Pedro Sánchez on the radio still resonate in the ears of all Spaniards and are the backdrop to a unease that Spanish judges and prosecutors no longer hide, having seen that this Government has no problem using the State Prosecutor’s Office as a defense lawyer for the president’s brother, the president’s wife… In this situation, the various reforms proposed by the current Government in the judicial sphere – among others, that procedural impetus passes from judges to prosecutors – provokes logical alarm and the suspicion of the entire legal community. Will the Government ultimately decide which cases should go forward and which should not?
