A 42-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman have been in pretrial detention since last Friday, accused of habitual abuse, serious bodily harm, and sexual assault against their son, a child just over a month old, who has been placed under the guardianship of the Catalan government. The couple was arrested last Wednesday, March 18, and appeared before the Barcelona court specializing in violence against children and adolescents last Friday. The judge ordered them held in pretrial detention without bail, as explained this Monday by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). Among the arguments put forward by the prosecution to request the parents' imprisonment were the risk that the abuse would continue and the possibility that the arrested individuals might choose to flee given the severity of the penalties they face. The prosecution also saw the risk that the parents could "violate the child's legal rights." For all these reasons, he requested pretrial detention and the suspension of parental rights as precautionary measures.

Over the past year, a new specialization has emerged in the courts, focused on investigating crimes in which the victims are children or adolescents. This has raised several questions about the limits of its jurisdiction and remains a source of disagreement between the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office. The law that designed this specialty It did not specify, for example, whether sexual assaults against girls should fall under these new courts or under those specializing in violence against women, to which The same judicial reform assigned jurisdiction over all sexual offenses.The reform also failed to stipulate who should handle cases of sexual assault against girls reported years later, when the victims are adults, as a Barcelona judge has now raised in a ruling obtained by ARA. Within the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office, there were differing opinions in this debate. On the one hand, some argued that sexual violence against girls should be investigated by the same courts that handle sexual assaults against adults. So far this year, as a result of this same reform, courts specializing in violence against women have jurisdiction over all sexual violence, not just domestic violence, as was the case previously. On the other hand, other legal experts warned that this would mean that sexual assaults against minors would have to be referred to different courts depending on whether the victim was a boy or a girl: boys would go to juvenile courts and girls to courts specializing in violence against women. Another argument in favor of leaving all cases in the hands of the new child abuse courts is their specialization and the fact that they utilize resources such as the Barnahus, where children can be interviewed by psychologists and educators in a less hostile environment than a courtroom.

A few weeks ago, the Ministry of Justice announced a "historic" expansion of the judges' staff to be created this year 500 new places across the country, 91 of which are in CataloniaHowever, the distribution of these new positions remained to be determined. The Spanish government's initial proposal failed to gain traction with either the Catalan Ministry of Justice or the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which have now submitted identical amendments. "We anticipate that these proposals will be considered by the Ministry," stated the Catalan Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler. With these 91 new judicial units, Catalonia will increase from 871 to 962. Most will be new positions in ordinary courts, but the number of judges in the provincial courts will also be increased. Lleida and Tarragona will each gain one more judge, Girona two, and Barcelona fourteen—six for the criminal divisions and eight for the civil divisions. A new judgeship will also be created for the TSJC.

The Catalan Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, argued on Thursday that the government's proposed 2026 budget will be "the budget for decongesting" the courts. Presenting the budget to a parliamentary committee, the minister asserted that it will help reduce waiting times for justice "so that citizens notice the system is working better." The Catalan government's proposal, which will face a comprehensive amendment from the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), allocates €1.392 billion to Justice out of the €49.162 billion budget for the entire Generalitat (Catalan government), €254.2 million more (22.3%) than in the last budget approved in 2023. "Justice," the minister argued. Almost 90% of the funds will be allocated to the administration of justice and the prison system, with the remainder earmarked for democratic memory and religious affairs. Specifically, 46.6% of the department's budget is allocated to the administration of justice, and this area will have a particularly strong impact. the agreement to create 91 new judicial positionsThis represents a significant increase compared to recent years, with a total of 65 new positions created over the last decade. Both the judges' salaries and those of the civil servants under the Ministry of Justice will be funded by the state budget, but the Catalan government (Generalitat) will be responsible for the salaries of civil servants employed by the Catalan administration, which it estimates will create approximately 300 new positions. These new positions will also necessitate some construction work to house the courts, and the department has yet to finalize its economic impact. Projects related to judicial buildings are also ongoing. the works of the Tarragona Justice Forum –scheduled for 2028 with a total cost of €94.2 million–, the new Barcelona Provincial Court –currently in the archaeological excavation phase– and the new courthouses in Martorell, Santa Coloma de Farners, and Falset. An additional €20.7 million is earmarked for renovations and expansions already underway in courthouses in various municipalities, €24.6 million for work in other buildings, and €1.3 million to improve waiting areas for victims.

The journalist Mar Bermúdez (Barcelona, ​​1998) goes report your boss in The MainThe former director of Catalunya Ràdio, Saúl Gordillo, was arrested in December 2022 for sexual assault. A case that would end in sentencing Two years later. And in 2025, Gordillo agreed to a sentence of one and a half years in prison for the sexual assault of a second female employee of the media outlet he directed in 2022. The MainNow Bermúdez recounts the experience he had in The sins of a feminist: the awakening of a journalistic #MeToo movement (Ara Llibres), a book that narrates, from a feminist perspective and with a structure based on the seven deadly sins, what it means to denounce a powerful person with influential friends. Which is the worst deadly sin?

The Ministry of Justice announced on Monday that it will create 500 new judgeships across Spain this year, 91 of which will be in Catalonia. This represents an average increase of 8.5% in judgeships nationwide, and a 10.5% increase in Catalonia, from 870 to 960 judges and magistrates. The Ministry explained that this is "the largest expansion of the judicial system in history." Regarding the impact on Catalonia, the Catalan Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, celebrated that the measure "puts an end to the historical shortage of judgeships" and brings Catalonia's number of judges in line with the national average. To illustrate the significance of this announcement, Espadaler noted that only 65 judicial positions had been created in Catalonia in the last 10 years. For now, the Ministry has presented a draft royal decree that is just beginning the legislative process. Without offering any timeline, Espadaler explained that before the legislation is finalized, they will assess with the judiciary whether any changes are needed in the allocation of these 91 judge and magistrate positions. The draft royal decree plans to bring new personnel to all judicial levels: the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), the provincial courts, and the lower courts, formerly known as ordinary courts. the reform of the efficiency law"We have a unique opportunity to modernize the public justice system," the regional minister declared during a press conference this Monday. Although the regional ministry has not specified the cost, the national ministry estimates that creating a judicial position currently costs around €100,000, whereas before the reform it cost €500,000. Therefore, it calculates that the 500 judicial positions to be created nationwide will cost €55.7 million, compared to €260 million before the reform. The new positions to be created this year will also be distributed across all jurisdictions. Espadaler acknowledged that until now his team had focused primarily on strengthening the criminal justice system in the Barcelona district. a plan against repeat offenders that added five additional courts for fast-track trialsIn fact, these reinforcements will be stabilized with the 91 positions announced this Monday. This time, the new positions will cover all specialties and will expand staffing in areas such as commercial and civil law.

The head of oncology atVall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, ​​Josep Tabernero, On Thursday, he distanced himself from the creation of the companies that the chemical entrepreneur and patron Pere Mir established in Panama before his death in 2017. The specialist testified as a suspect in the court investigating the case for disloyal administration and misappropriation, asserting that he kept the house "according to Mir's last wishes." He also emphasized that the patron verbally expressed this decision and that the money he received corresponded to the taxes he had to pay to make the donation effective. According to judicial sources, Tabernero appeared before the judge of Barcelona's Court of Instruction Number 12 as a suspect, along with Pere Mir's trusted associate, Jordi Segarra, and the third executor, Francisco Capellas, for allegedly misappropriating fund of heir foundations, such as CellexTabernero, who was Pere Mir's personal physician, explained to the judge that Mir told him he would bequeath a house in Baqueira to him upon his death. He claimed that, as the patron of one of the properties, he was "scientific" without being involved in any economic or business decisions. As a patron, he added, he also made no decisions. The judge attributes to Tabernero a "direct involvement" in the donation of a property in Baqueira, originating from a company within Pere Mir's network, of which the doctor was a beneficiary, as well as receiving 312,000 euros from the patron's estate. In contrast, the oncologist's defense presented a notarized statement in which the property's maintenance manager indicated that Mir had confided in him that Tabernero and his wife would visit the property to see it, since they would inherit it upon his death, as a gesture of gratitude. Furthermore, the doctor explained that the €312,000 he received after Mir's death were used to pay the taxes related to the donation of the property to Baqueira.

Cash payments are a major headache for the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). The courts do not consider them sufficiently justified and have evidence suggesting they have prompted an investigation into alleged illegal commissions within the framework of the Koldo-Ábalos-Cerdán case, as well as the party's finances. The opening last Wednesday of a new sealed investigation by National Court Judge Ismael Moreno to examine the socialists' financial records was just one more step. The PSOE's explanations have not yet convinced the courts, which will examine all the party's documentation regarding cash payments to officials, members, and supporters between 2017 and 2024. But the PSOE maintains that there is no wrongdoing. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez even acknowledged having received some cash payments.

The Barcelona Court has acquitted the two Mossos d'Esquadra officers accused of collaborating with a drug trafficking plot The prosecution had requested 18 years and 9 months in prison for the two officers for planting drugs and weapons in the car of a dockworker at the port of Barcelona, ​​Carlos L. However, the court acquitted them because it did not consider it sufficiently proven that they participated in planting the drugs. Furthermore, the court annulled the wiretaps, finding that there was insufficient evidence to justify such measures and that the suspicions regarding their involvement in the scheme had weak supporting evidence. The Fifth Section of the Barcelona Provincial Court, as reported by EFE, also acquitted the other two defendants in the trial held in November: a former Desokupa employee and martial arts instructor, and his nephew, both mechanics. According to the prosecution's theory, both officers were the ones who planted the drugs and weapons in the dockworker's vehicle in June 2016. However, the two officers provided information about Carlos L. after consulting the Mossos d'Esquadra database. The officers, a corporal with over three decades of experience and a former port police officer, had been suspended without pay for four years, but were now back on active duty. The mastermind of the plot

According to the document, both officers, who faced four charges – drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, unlawful detention, and disclosure of secrets – bear "no responsibility" in the plot orchestrated against Carlos L., who during the trial He explained that behind this maneuver was David Caballero, the dockworker known as Bubito, who was murdered in November 2014 in Montgat, in the Maresme region, in a drug-related revenge killing. Carlos L. defended the theory that he was a "drug lord" who controlled the port and that he devised the plan against him because he had previously refused to work for him. The prosecutor maintained at the trial that, in accordance with a "preconceived plan," the two Mossos d'Esquadra officers—who were then assigned to the Sant Martí police station in Barcelona—provided "essential" information that they obtained on the afternoon of March 18, 2016, by consulting databases. Based on this information, according to the prosecution, the other two defendants surveilled Carlos L. to learn his routines, until June 15, 2016, when they carried out the operation to plant the drugs and weapons, taking advantage of the fact that he had parked his car in front of a gym in Barcelona. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) suspected that the whole thing was a planned operation. On the day of Carlos L.'s arrest, a man who identified himself as Alberto called the Sant Martí police station and asked to speak with an officer named "Trini," a policeman known for having informants. Alberto reported that there was a car, a Volkswagen Golf, with drugs and weapons inside in the Francesc Macià area. This call, which was not the usual way informants contacted the officer, and the fact that they referred to him by his first name, raised suspicions within the Catalan police force.

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It's common for readers to ask, in the comments on news articles about events in ARA, about the nationality or origin of the person arrested by the police. This is just one example that demonstrates how an issue has entered the public debate, often gaining traction in the political sphere thanks to certain political groups: the perceived link between newly arrived people and a greater propensity to commit crimes. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) do not release the nationality of those arrested, as origin is not considered a factor in criminal behavior, but the Catalan police have indicated they will begin providing more details for certain types of crimes starting next year. Currently, foreigners make up 18% of the residents of Catalonia and represent 52% of the prison population and more than half of all police arrests. However, both spokespeople for the Catalan police and experts consulted by this newspaper urge going beyond the raw data and contextualizing it by taking into account the truly decisive factors, such as socioeconomic ones.

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A couple—she Australian, he English—decided to make a radical life change and settled in Italy, in a house in the woods where they lived with the bare necessities and raised their children in a way that was unconventional for most. Now, the Italian courts have decided to remove their custody of the children, alleging that the children—six-year-old twins and an eight-year-old girl—are not in school, lack basic services, and live in isolation. The children are in a foster care center while they await a judge's final decision on what is best for them. family It has been shown, with data from the Italian Ministry of Education, that a teacher continues her education at home and that her children play with other boys and girls in the area. They use solar panels for energy and draw drinking water from a well. The children show no signs of abuse. They don't have cell phones or television. They are not vaccinated. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what exactly is being judged?

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This Thursday, the Department of Justice released for the first time data that provides a comprehensive overview of mechanical restraints used for disciplinary reasons in prisons. There were 313 such restraints in the first ten months of the year. These restraints are used eight times more frequently on inmates in closed or solitary confinement than on those who can leave prison on temporary release or are on semi-liberty, with a rate of 9.16 per 100 inmates in the former case and 1.21 in the latter. Proportionally, they also affect prisoners under 25 years of age more: among young people, the rate of restraints per 100 inmates is 3.74, while among adults it is 1.28. Some of the data presented this Thursday surprised even the Department of Justice, as admitted by the Minister, Ramon Espadaler, such as the figures broken down by gender. In the prison system, there are far fewer women than men (869 and 12,835, respectively), so in absolute numbers, the number of restraints applied to women (20) is also much lower than those applied to men (194). However, the proportion of restraints per 100 people is higher among women (2.3) than among men (1.51). Espadaler was scheduled to offer his response this Thursday in a parliamentary committee to the report by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which warned of cases of mistreatment in Catalan prisons. The same report reiterated its request that the Catalan government abolish the use of mechanical restraints on prisoners for disciplinary reasons, limiting them to those applied for medical reasons. Espadaler and the Secretary of Penal Measures, Reintegration, and Victim Support, Elena Pérez, explained that the data confirms a downward trend in this practice. However, the Minister referred to his first statement before this same committee when he took office: "I could have come here and said 'zero restraint this term,' and I was honest in saying that it's not possible. What is possible is to work to reduce them as much as possible." From January to October of this year, 313 restraints were used in prisons for disciplinary reasons (a rate of 2.28 per 100 inmates). With this figure, the Catalan Ministry of Justice says it has achieved a 22.4% reduction in restraints compared to the previous year, consolidating a downward trend since 2023, the year with the highest number of restraints (643) in the last five years. "It's clear we have room for improvement, we must pursue it and we will," Espadaler responded to the opposition. For example, next week the Catalan Parliament will debate the proposal to grant prison officers the status of law enforcement agents, and this Thursday Pérez defended it as a way to reduce the use of restraints. "It could lead to a minimization of risky situations," he said. More factors involved

Although several factors often converge when officers decide to use restraint, Justice Department data indicates that in 66% of this year's incidents, the inmate was aggressive or showed serious resistance to staff. 42.5% of restraints were carried out after episodes of self-directed violence—including 5.75% suicide attempts—and 4.47% following fights between inmates. One of the main factors Justice Department will consider when designing prevention policies is repeat offenses. Of the 313 restraints used this year, almost half involved inmates who had been restrained more than once. In fact, a quarter of these inmates account for half of all restraints. To assess the impact of mental health issues on restraints, the department collected data on prisoners admitted to specialized medical units within 30 days of being restrained. Over a 10-month period, this occurred in approximately 30 cases, representing 14% of the total.

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Bibiana Palomar has spent years navigating paperwork. Before, it was boxes and filing cabinets; now, more often, she's in front of screens. She leads a team that handles an essential but little-known task within the judicial system: cleaning up the multitude of documents generated by the administration of justice—not just paperwork, but also the court records used as evidence in trials.

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Transcripts of conversations with victims of the devastating storm in the Valencian Community are increasingly shedding light on the scale of the catastrophe that occurred a year ago amidst the disarray of the emergency response, hampered by a very late call to action by the Cecopio (the regional emergency management center), as acknowledged by the investigating judge, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, and by the lengthy after-dinner conversation of its president, Carlos Mazón. The judge has added to the case file the chilling conversations of two people who died in Utiel and Picanya. Witnesses confirm that 37 users of the service provided by the Valencian Regional Government and the Valencia Provincial Council through a concessionary company died despite calling for help. One of the transcripts that has been made public is that of a user of the Valencia Provincial Council's telecare service who lived in Picanya. "I'm very scared," the dependent woman states. "My house is full of water," she says. The service representative recommended she get on a sofa or bed, but she replied that she was already "on the sofa," just before the telecare service asked her not to move and told her they would notify the local police. "Please, please!" the woman exclaimed. The telecare staff tried to contact the police, but it appears they were unsuccessful as there is no record of the call. Immediately after that call, they contacted a friend of the victim to see if anyone could take care of her, but she was isolated on the second floor. "Doesn't she have any neighbors upstairs who could help her, or are they all just single-story houses?" the telecare service asked. "They're all single-story houses, and the retirement home is on the ground floor; they have nowhere to go," the friend replied. The Provincial Council's service contacted the woman again: "Everything is overloaded. Do you have any neighbors?" they asked, and received the response that the water "is coming in very forcefully." "Go as high up as possible; not on the sofa, to a table," they told her. "I'm on the sofa, but it's coming in," she blurted out. At that critical moment, they asked her to "try to go from the sofa to the table": "I'm still asking for help, understand?" they told the woman. "Okay, please, quickly," she begged. Help that would not arrive for a woman who would end up drowning, although the service continued requesting assistance, as they responded. After this call, there were about ten attempts to contact 112 from the provincial telecare service, all of which were unsuccessful.

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The Supreme Court will resolve the fundamental debate following various legal proceedings in which a family member attempts to stop the euthanasia of an adult who already has medical approval. In all the cases that have reached the courts, a question has arisen that was not foreseen in the 2021 euthanasia law: Is the family of an adult who has requested euthanasia entitled to prevent it through the courts?

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Guilty. The jury has found the man accused of killing his partner in Campdevànol guilty of murder, sexual assault, and habitual abuse. The verdict was unanimous and rules out the possibility that Albert Pinto Pérez's incapacity was "nullified or severely impaired" by drug use at the time of the crime. It also rejects any of the mitigating circumstances requested by the defendant's defense and concludes that it was a murder with malice aforethought and cruelty, with aggravating circumstances of gender and kinship, while refusing to grant him any pardon. The prosecutor and the private prosecution request a life sentence subject to review for the murder and a further eighteen years for the other two crimes. murdered woman Her name was Anna and she was 21 years old.

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The Sitges Club de Mar was emptied this Tuesday against the clock after the State requested the eviction of the entity, which was finally upheld by the courts. This is the outcome of a dispute that the Sitges club has been waging with the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO) for months in an attempt to prevent the demolition of the space. Finally, the club must comply with the notification they received last Thursday, October 16, and leave.

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The continued increase in the number of inmates in Catalonia has led the Catalan government to decide to expand prison spaces to prevent overcrowding. Specifically, it will build two new modules within the current perimeter of the Mas de Enric prison in El Catllar (Tarragonès), which will accommodate a total of 256 more prisoners. The new buildings will be for men and will be built on the site of a disused soccer field, as inmates already use the sports facilities in each module.

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Nazarenes, dressed in tunics and hoods, are the companions of the floats in a procession during Holy Week. But it is also the name given to one of the oldest scams, and there are several theories that explain it. The Nazarene scam consists of a fake businessman who goes to a company and places orders for a product that is already on the market. Although he never pays for the order, he does end up selling the merchandise. Some theories say that, since the scamming company later receives a procession of creditors, the name Nazareno was ultimately chosen. Others argue that, since the scam occurs in stages (like those during Holy Week), the name ultimately comes from here. Be that as it may, it remains a common scam, as demonstrated by a recent case: an Alicante cooperative dedicated to fruit production lost half a million euros in loquats.

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The same week that Trump's congratulations to Jeffrey Epstein were made public, unleashing a wave of anger among some of his supporters, a ruling was also upheld requiring the US president to pay $83 million to journalist E. Jean Carroll, whom he sexually assaulted in 1996. On the latter point, regarding the sexual violence committed by Trump, the far right does not seem to have felt the need to comment. Those who condemn the president for his friendship with a pedophile, while dismissing the female witnesses who accuse him of sexual assault, are suffering from a peculiar case of selective outrage.

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