More prosecutors for Catalonia to "unblock" the judicial collapse

MadridThe Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, has announced the territorial distribution of 200 new prosecutor positions to be filled in this year's competitive examinations. During a visit to the physical headquarters of the State Attorney General's Office, Bolaños explained this Tuesday that "the positions will be created in all autonomous communities and central bodies without exception". A decision taken with the consensus of the Prosecutor's Office, taking into account both the workload and the current size of the staff.

With this increase, Catalonia will have 35 new positions, which will represent an 8.01% increase compared to the current situation. Thus, Catalonia will go from 433 to 468 people on staff. The Minister of Justice and Democratic Quality, Ramon Espadaler, has welcomed the announcement and has stressed that this increase in human resources should allow for improved system efficiency –which is still in a state of collapse– and reduce processing times, as well as

The department will work in coordination with the High Prosecutor's Office of Catalonia to define the distribution of the new positions, following the model applied with the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. "To give us an idea of the magnitude, we are growing in one year what we have grown in the last seven years," the minister pointed out. The distribution criterion will be based on workloads and not solely on the assigned population. "It's not about so many inhabitants, so many prosecutors, but about so much work, so many prosecutors," Espadaler summarized.

Murcia and Madrid, the ones that will gain the most

The 200 prosecutor positions that the Ministry of Justice already announced last March are also added to the 500 positions called for judges, which represents an 8.5% increase in the country's judicial staff. Of this half-thousand, 91 are in Catalonia. "We are talking about the largest call for judges and prosecutors in history," Bolaños argued. The State Attorney General, Teresa Peramato, also recalled that the call will allow reaching the figure of 3,004 prosecutors, 7.1% more compared to the current staff (there are 2,804).

The cost of creating these positions is more than 22.5 million euros. In percentage terms, Murcia and Madrid will be the communities that will see their staff grow the most, specifically by 9.7% and 9.38%, which represents the addition of 7 and 32 new prosecutors, respectively. For its part, Andalusia will have 38, 7.44% more compared to its current staff. In the Valencian Country, 20 positions will be created; in the Canary Islands and Castilla-La Mancha, 8; and in Castilla y León and Galicia, 7.

Regarding the Balearic Islands, 5 new prosecutors will be added, while in the Basque Country and Extremadura 4 positions will be created; in Asturias, 3; and in Cantabria, Navarra, Aragon, and La Rioja, one. Furthermore, the increase in central bodies – including the General Prosecutor's Office, the National High Court, and the Constitutional Court – will include eighteen new prosecutors, which represents a 9.23% increase in staff.