Justice is the last ratio, the last argument, of the democratic system. It is the place where citizens, companies or other agents turn when they feel mistreated or are victims of abuse or aggression. We expect reparation from justice and, also, punishment for the guilty. Justice is fundamental to give the system meaning. If there is no justice, there is no democracy. And if it works poorly or defectively, it is the whole that is irremediably delegitimized. It is democracy that is devalued in the eyes of the people. It is precisely for this reason, because of the fundamental importance that, in democratic terms, but also moral, justice has, that I have never understood the blatant abandonment to which Spain has been subjected.
Anyone who has had to deal with one court or another has suffered it. And perhaps it has come to Cabo Larra and the "Come back tomorrow" Or perhaps you have been plagued by nightmares in the style of Josef K. At the time of the blockchain and artificial intelligence, mountains of paperwork continue to pile up in Spanish courts and figures such as the attorney are still in force, a reflection, like so many others, of the past. In the age of the Internet and electronic signatures, courts often still seem like the Marx Brothers' cabin, with a hustle and bustle only comprehensible to those who have spent years dealing with delirious processes. No one – except professionals in the field – starts dealing with justice for fun. It is always because something has not gone as it should or because someone has done what they were not going to do. Because something has failed. And what anyone who has judicial entanglements wants is to end them as soon as possible.
But if the importance of justice, of all justice, from the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court to the last court on the street, is unquestionable, no matter how you look at it, why does the system – as a whole – continue to be slow, precarious and antiquated to desperate extremes? I have always thought that the clumsy functioning of justice cannot be a coincidence. For as long as I can remember, there has been a lack of personnel – of all categories and functions –, material resources have been lacking and its mechanisms have become rusty. When I say that it cannot be a coincidence, I mean that there must be reasons behind the lack of interest that politicians – the legislative power, the executive power – have shown when it comes to making justice really work. I am tempted to think – but I don't know – that it is above all neglect. They must think that transforming justice is very complicated and, in the end, people do not decide their vote based on what a party has done or proposes in that area. Now they may also fear that a stronger justice system will cause them problems, that it will get out of hand...
For all these reasons, I was surprised by a news item from a few days ago: the Spanish government approved a draft law to reform the law on the judiciary. The proposal covers different aspects linked above all to the way of accessing the work of judge or prosecutor. We could say that the norm – which must finally be approved by Congress – wants to open up or "make less elitist" – as the ARA titled – these professions. The PSOE and Sumar government has therefore focused on who. Who – and how – Spanish judges and prosecutors are today.
The reform promoted by Sánchez wants to legally protect scholarships so that people from poorer families can prepare for their exams with equal opportunities. He also wants to change the exams. As we know, the tests are basically based on memorization – again as if we were in the 19th century – and do not take into account, for example, whether the candidates demonstrate criteria, a comprehensive understanding of the cases or, simply, common sense (a psychological evaluation is not considered, at the moment, as is done in some other countries and as police officers must pass). Another point prohibits professional associations from receiving private funding (what is not understood is that they can receive it now: justice is supposed to be blind).
It seems clear that what has made the central government turn on the light bulb is the evident rebellion of a part of the judges and prosecutors against Sánchez, whom they would like to overthrow. This happens – short and short – because many judges and prosecutors, especially those at the top, are right-wing or very right-wing. PP and Vox have quickly torn their clothes because, naturally, they do not want anything to change. I think that the proposed measures are not bad, although we will have to wait to see how the law finally turns out. Everything that serves to modernise justice is positive. What is not at all positive is that the deep transformation, which is so necessary, continues to be postponed.
