He admitted that he repeats the same criticisms and that his speeches are “timeless”, but the president of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA), Lorenzo del Riotook advantage of the inauguration of the judicial year at the Royal Chancery of Granada to relaunch them, although on this occasion, more than on the slowness, the excess of litigation or the need for a modernization of the system, the emphasis was placed on the objective of “depoliticizing Justice.”
Del Río began his speech with a clear allusion to this: the citizen, he wanted to say, perceives justice as something “politicized”, something that was noticed in the “anomaly”, finally resolved after five years, of having a General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) without renewing its members.
This lack of change, “unprecedented” and which caused “a clear constitutional degradation” has been resolved, but “The damage is already done because a halo of doubt persists on justice, which sees how a political distribution between two parties for the nomination of members is socially visualized.
“This implies – he stressed – the ideological classification of members into conservatives and progressives. The inconsistency of the CGPJ It has become contrary to the constitutional spirit by appointing them because of the weight of political groups. Now, the new CGPJ must strengthen the institution and set an example for the country in a time of intense polarization that should not extend to justice.
In this sense, he said that a clear objective of the new judicial year must be to “depoliticize justice”, because we are currently witnessing a “the intoxication of the social climate” concerning her and many “understand her decisions as politicized and not impartial.”
“Respect for this pillar is conspicuous by its absence”
He invited us to reflect on what he defined as the “blind delegitimization of one of the pillars of the State”, because often, he later clarified, Respect for this pillar is “conspicuous by its absence” and judges need this respect and independence to work. “It is a function that citizens have entrusted to them.”
According to him, justice is now “one more element in the political struggle and the judge, an actor wearing the colours of this or that party”. “This generates disaffection and sows doubt”, he warned, adding that it is something that the European Commissionwho spoke of “undue pressure” on judges and the risk that this “affects confidence in judicial independence, a confidence which is a right of citizens, they deserve it”.
The Spanish, he said then, have the right to criticize the judges if they deem it appropriate, they are not untouchable. “Criticizing the judges must be considered as something normal, acceptable and even recommended” he stressed.
On the other hand, Del Río also spoke of the need to “urgently define a new model of justice.” This makes it more useful and effective“, because the current one involves burdens such as the high rate of litigation, the “enormous” workload of professionals and the still nascent implementation of digital justice.
Organizational schemes of the “19th century”
But more than the number of new judges and officials that would be needed, the president of the TSJA spoke of the need to transform “certain organizational, professional and procedural schemes.” 19th century ».
He said that although the number of judges in Andalusia has quadrupled since 1983, there are still gaps because litigation has increased by 20% in the last decade. “This high index makes efficiency almost impossible of an administration of justice in the current context, very different from that of the 19th century,” he insisted.
In addition to betting on extrajudicial conflict resolution systems, he called for “improving procedural tools and simplifying processes.” Yes, he admitted that some measures have helped to improve the situation somewhat, such as the criminal mediation service that the Junta de Andalucía has implemented in all provincial capitals.
Regarding digitalization, he acknowledged that steps have been taken with “integrated and functional” judicial seats, which happened in Seville or Lucenabut in other places, like Costa del Sol, Algeciras, Cádiz, Jaén or Huelvathe situation has become “entrenched”.
The Attorney General, more optimistic
For her part, the Attorney General of Andalusia, Ana Tarragostressed that, if his speech last year was very vindictive, this time he should have a more optimistic tone since there have been “some advances that will improve the functioning of Justice.”
More specifically, he discussed the implementation of the Tax office in the pending prosecution offices, which “has allowed a better use of resources and the incorporation of new officials.” In addition, he stressed that, although it is necessary to continue moving forward until “the complete implementation of the digital file,” improvements have also been recorded in this area.
But above all he highlighted the impact that the Judicial Infrastructure Plan designed by the Government of Andalusia, which plans to invest 1.5 billion until 2030 to improve and adapt the offices of the 85 Andalusian judicial districts. It is, he said, an “ambitious” project that, in Granada, must “solve the problem of the dispersion of seats and their concentration in a City of Justice.”
Tarrago also welcomed the fact that the renewal of the members of the General Council of the Judiciary had been resolved, “a prolonged situation that we no longer wish to see and that had a high cost in the reputation and image of Justice.
The Attorney General recalled that Andalusia is the third community in Spain in terms of litigation rate per inhabitant, which shows that “a litigation culture against extrajudicial conflict resolution measures.
He also regretted the growth of “new crimes”, the persistence of drug trafficking gangs and scourges such as sexist violence and highlighted the situation of minors, “victims and aggressors” who are increasingly numerous. commit crimes at a younger ageincluding sexual assault and abuse.
