The BOE publishes a macro-call for applications to cover 700 positions of judge and prosecutor

BarcelonaThe Official State Gazette (BOE) publishes a macro-call to fill up to 700 positions for judges and prosecutors. After the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, had announced it on several occasions over the past few months, the call is specified this Monday with 375 positions for judges, 200 for prosecutors, and 125 for the fourth turn, which will allow jurists with more than 10 years of experience to achieve the rank of magistrate.

The Spanish government claims that the figure of 700 new positions represents "more than triple" those called in 2025 and contrasts it with the 350 positions that Mariano Rajoy's government called for in the 2012-2016 period. "In total, the executive has called for 2,515 positions for judges and prosecutors since 2018, triple those called for during Mariano Rajoy's two legislatures," the executive of Pedro Sánchez notes in a press release.

In parallel with the macro-call for applications, the Spanish government reports that it is finalizing the creation of 500 new judge positions and 200 prosecutor positions, a measure that should be approved in the coming weeks through two royal decrees, once contributions from the CGPJ, the Prosecutor's Office, the autonomous communities, and the various involved ministries have been collected. "The biggest transformation of justice in decades," Bolaños claimed in a message on X.

In a subsequent statement, the association of Judges for Democracy applauded the macro-call for applications. Its spokesperson, Edmundo Rodríguez, stated that it will contribute to "improving the public service of the Administration of Justice" and alleviating part of the "deficit" in the judiciary and the prosecutor's office. "If in previous years barely 200 positions were called for, the call for applications that has been confirmed today is a first step that must have continuity in subsequent years, to maintain a pace of incorporation that allows not only to maintain current resources but also to increase them and bring Spain closer to the European ratio," he demanded.

For his part, the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, welcomed that the call for applications "will contribute to strengthening the public justice service in Catalonia." In fact, he described it as "an important step to reduce the historic deficit of legal and fiscal personnel."

91 more judges in Catalonia

The expansion of the judicial staff will involve 91 new positions for Catalonia, which will go from having 871 to 962. The majority will be new positions in ordinary courts, but the staff of magistrates in the provincial courts will also be expanded and a new position for a magistrate of the TSJC will be created.

According to the Justice Department's explanation in March, the expansion will be accompanied by 300 new civil servant positions, 76 for procedural and administrative management, and 224 for processing. With the traditional organization of courts, there was a fixed number of civil servants for each judge, but since the organizational reform implemented by the efficiency law there is no exact figure and experience will eventually clarify how much staff is needed in each court.