The Professional Association of the Judiciary, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, the Independent Judicial Forum, the Association of Prosecutors and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors have announced in a joint communiqué their intention to call an indefinite strike in the judicial and prosecutorial careers from 16 May.
For the moment, the association Judges and Judges for Democracy and the Progressive Union of Prosecutors have not joined the call, although they share the diagnosis and the claims, because they want to wait to know the approach of the Ministry of Finance at the meeting scheduled for 3 May.
Judges and prosecutors are concerned about the lack of sufficient funding for the administration of justice, an area of government that they consider to be “the Cinderella”, and about the workloads of courts and prosecutors’ offices “which affect both the quality and speed of judicial response and the health of the judiciary and members of the public prosecutor’s office”.
They explain that after “disappointing” meetings with the Justice Ministry on 31 March and 4 April, coinciding with the lawyers’ strike – which concluded with a salary increase of more than €400 per month, and which has undoubtedly spurred the claims of judges and prosecutors – they announced their intention to draw up a calendar of “pressure measures”.
