Judges and prosecutors protest the courts against the legal reforms of the Government | Spain

Judges and prosecutors have concentrated on Wednesday before the judicial venues throughout Spain in protest of the legal reforms linked to justice promoted by the government. The 10 -minute unemployment was convened by five of the seven associations of judges and prosecutors (all but the progressives) have already joined some magistrates, prosecutors and lawyers of the Supreme Court, to which they have joined, before the main facade of the Court, magistrates and prosecutors of the National Court and the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM).

It is not the first time that judges and prosecutors protest before the courts against a law promoted by the PSOE coalition government and add. They already did it at the end of 2023 after the announcement of the amnesty law. On this occasion, the strike called Thursday stages the frontal opposition of the majority associations of judges and prosecutors to The two reforms linked to justice announced by the Government: the one that provides changes in the form of access to both careers and the one that modifies the statute that regulates the Prosecutor’s Office to adapt it to the law that will leave the instruction of the criminal cases to the prosecutors.

To the call for associations, judges and non -associated judges and a platform composed of more a thousand members of both careers have been adhered, mostly of the last promotions, together through two groups of WhatsApp and who, regardless of the unemployment on Wednesday, values ​​the call for a strike. The two progressive associations, judges and judges for democracy and the progressive union of prosecutors, support, in general, both laws.

The government defends that its reforms are necessary to modernize justice. « We want all citizens to opt in equal terms to these tough oppositions. The dilemma in justice is reforms or immobility, » said the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, who has warned that all the reforms of justice « received rejection at the time and today are a great consensus » and has predicted that this « will not be different. »

Before the facade of the High Court, in the Plaza de la Villa de Paris, magistrates of the Supreme Court have gathered, as the judges of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber José Luis Requero, Antonio Fonseca, Wenceslao Olea, Diego Córdoba and Esperanza Córdoba; the magistrate of the Criminal Chamber Antonio del Mora; that of the Manuel Almenar Civil Chamber; and that of the social hall Juan Martínez Moya. They have also attended prosecutors of the High Court, as one of the criminal chiefs, Javier Huete.

The representation of the National Court has been headed by its president, Juan Manuel Fernández, who, as some of the high -court magistrates who have joined the strike, was a member of the CGPJ at the proposal of the PP. Next to the president, other magistrates such as María Tardón, José Luis Calama, and Eloy Velasco. The chief prosecutor of Anti -Corruption, Alejandro Luzón, has come along with other prosecutors of this department. The magistrates and prosecutors did not wear Toga, although some lawyers of the High Court, who are career judges, but not magistrates.

The convening associations have been the Professional Association of the Magistracy, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, Independent Judicial Forum, the Association of Prosecutors and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors. They convened the protest on May 23 because they consider that the judicial reform includes « highly harmful measures » that can « seriously affect judicial independence. »

After 10 minutes of unemployment, two prosecutors of the convening associations have read the manifesto prepared by the associations, in which they ask for the withdrawal of the two laws. On the reform of access to the race, the associations have denounced that « by urgency » be processed, when « it does not respond to any social demand. »

The manifesto ensures that it is a reform « that will reduce the excellence of knowledge in access to judicial and fiscal careers, eliminating essential content » for their formation and introducing « more subjective and susceptible tests of filtration. » The associations thus oppose the government’s proposal to introduce a written evidence and anonymity of the applicants in the opposition of access to both careers, a format that already applies to the rest of the oppositions of the legal field and that the Government defends by the convenience of assessing, in addition to the memorial capacity, the ability to express legal reasoning.

The extraordinary regularization of substitute judges and prosecutors constitutes another of the conflict points between the judicial career and the Ministry of Justice. For convening associations, stabilization is carried out « without evidence that measure your aptitude » for access to the race. The process was announced a few weeks ago and will consist of a contest-opposition and the available places are still to be determined.

« Falsely putting Europe as an excuse, we want to modify the basis of both careers, making judges and prosecutors a thousand three hundred judges and substitute prosecutors, without evidence that measure their aptitude for it and, consequently, against the constitutional principles of equality, merit and capacity, with serious detriment of the younger promotions and of the thousands of opponents that are being sacrificed to achieve their dream of being a dream of being a judge. The manifesto read during the protest points out.

Justice insists that ending the interim in the judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office – a situation in which 954 judges and 331 prosecutors are found – responds to two warnings of the European Commission, in July and October 2024.

The reading of the manifesto has been repeated in all the concentrations convened by the associations. One of the most numerous has been held before the Courts of Plaza de Castilla, in Madrid, where dozens of people to the shout of « thanks » and crying out for the « judicial independence » have received at 12.00 the representatives of the convocating associations and the judges and prosecutors who have joined the protest.

Attendees have received applause in most of the concentrations of dozens of people who have attended as a public at the doors of the supreme to encourage judges and prosecutors to the shout of « brave », « freedom » or « Pedro Sánchez resignation. »