BarcelonaA common criticism of the judicial system is that it still operates "like in the 19th century." But now that could begin to change: throughout 2025, a law will be rolled out that aims to modernize the justice system and make it more efficient. The efficiency law will change how the courts are organized—even their names—and will introduce new measures designed to improve the protection of children and victims of sexual crimes. The new system will be implemented gradually in three phases—in June, October, and December—affecting smaller municipalities first and then larger cities.
Courts that disappear and new trial courts
In the coming months we will stop hearing about the investigating, criminal or social courts, because the courts will be headed by a single magistrate They will disappear as such. In their place, a different system will be established with the new courts of first instance: there will be only one in each judicial district—in Catalonia there are 49, a territorial distribution that will be maintained—which will bring together all the judges, although they may be distributed among different specialized sections. Consequently, court staff will no longer be assigned to a single judge, but, under the direction of a court clerk, they may be assigned to one task or another depending on the workload. For the Secretary of the Administration of Justice of the Generalitat, Iolanda Aguilar, the flexibility offered by this model is key. In fact, she is confident that it "will help to decongest the courts and make them function more efficiently." Although most of the changes this law will bring are related to the organization of the courts, one of the most significant innovations is that up to three judges can be assigned to major cases instead of just one. This measure aims to prevent them from absorbing the entire workload of a court. New specialization in violence against children
The specialized sections to which judges will be assigned in the new lower courts largely correspond to the current specializations. However, the new law establishes two new ones. In the civil sphere, a section for family, childhood, and legal capacity is created (in contrast to the existing family courts), and in the criminal sphere, a section for violence against children and adolescents. The latter will handle cases in which the victims are minors, which until now fell under the jurisdiction of criminal courts, with the exception of those related to gender-based violence, which will be referred to the specialized courts for this purpose. The law also stipulates that these cases must be given priority. Conversely, the juvenile section, which handles cases in which the defendant is between 14 and 18 years old, will be maintained.
More powers regarding violence against women
Starting in October, judges specializing in violence against women will take charge of certain crimes that were not previously included in this specialty because it only dealt with domestic violence. They will gain jurisdiction over crimes such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, harassment with sexual connotations, and all sexual offenses, which until now fell under the purview of the investigating courts. This change was already foreseen in the law. only if yes of 2022.
In the area of gender-based violence, the new law also establishes that all women and minors who are victims of sexual crimes have the right to a court-appointed lawyer regardless of their income. Furthermore, one of the possibilities opened up by this law is that specialized courts can operate in more than one judicial district. In fact, the Catalan government intends to unify the gender-based violence specialization in Barcelona and Hospitalet de Llobregat with seven courts. Currently, they have five and one, respectively.
Reorganization pending
The new responsibilities will mean a greater workload for the courts specializing in gender-based violence. The Ministry of Justice estimates it will be approximately 20% more, although sources within the judiciary and the public prosecutor's office warn that it could be much higher. Likewise, the change will relieve the burden on the investigating courts that until now handled sexual offenses outside of a relationship. The organizational chart, which will clarify how many judges will be dedicated to each area and also how many will be dedicated to the new specialty of violence against children and adolescents, is still pending revision. The Ministry is responsible for calculating how many judges will be needed for each specialty and will formalize the new distribution in a royal decree. It has already indicated that one possibility is that judges who were previously investigating judges will be assigned exclusively to cases of gender-based violence. Various sources consulted by ARA believe that to absorb the anticipated workload, the judicial staff would have to be expanded, thus ending the collapse of the justice system. The Catalan government maintains its demand, despite this new organization, that Catalonia needs another 55 judges.
No budget
However, the law does not include any budget allocation, and the expansion of the staff is left to future decisions. The head of the Barcelona Public Prosecutor's Office, Neus Pujal, commented on this: "Resources must be allocated to the administration of justice. If resources are not allocated, this reform will not go ahead." Another aspect that affects the economic sphere is that the law creates new positions of responsibility for civil servants and legal professionals within the administration of justice, which will therefore entail higher salaries. The Catalan government has not yet calculated what the increased cost will be for the Catalan administration. Mandatory mediation in civil and commercial matters
Mediation or another alternative dispute resolution method will be mandatory to initiate civil or commercial legal proceedings. This requirement aims to reduce the burden on the courts and prevent litigation that could have been resolved through negotiation. This mandatory mechanism must be covered by the public defender's office in cases where the affected person is entitled to free legal aid, an aspect for which the Generalitat (Catalan government) has not yet calculated the economic impact, but which it plans to implement through the public defender system.
Justice of the Peace Courts
The new judicial organization will also mean that the justices of the peace will be replaced by municipal justice offices In localities where there is no court of first instance, these offices will broadly have the same powers as the existing justices of the peace, with minor expansions. One of the Generalitat's objectives is to promote the digitization of these offices so they can serve as a secure access point for judicial videoconferences, for example, for witnesses or experts appearing in court without needing to travel.
Phased deployment
The new organizational model outlined in the efficiency law will be rolled out in three phases, starting with the smallest judicial districts and ending with the largest. In Catalonia, court staff have been operating under this model in some localities since 2012, and currently 28 of the 49 judicial districts are already functioning in this way. Until now, implementation has been gradual, involving renovations to court buildings to create more open workspaces, but next year it will be implemented in buildings that are already operational.
The first lower courts that are scheduled to begin operating have until June 1st to be up and running. In Catalonia, this date affects 33 judicial districts, but only seven are not yet using the court office model. These are Valls, Santa Coloma de Farners, Vic, Martorell, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Rubí, and Gavà.
The deadline for the second round is October 30th. In this case, there are two judicial districts in Catalonia that still have all the work to do: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Badalona.
The final round of adaptations to the new organization will conclude on December 31. It affects 14 judicial districts in total: the four district capitals (in Girona it has been partially implemented), Arenys de Mar, Figueres, Manresa, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Sabadell, Terrassa, Mataró, Reus and Granollers.
