The person in charge of the Generalitat's centers for minors resigns

BarcelonaThe Director General of Penal Execution in the Community and Juvenile Justice, Jesús del Cacho, has resigned after two years in office. The Government appointed the new director, criminal lawyer Paz Vallès, this very Tuesday.

Sources from the Department of Justice disconnect the change in the team from the crime last week in Manresa for which two minors have been arrested, both with criminal records. One of them was on probation at the time of the crime for an attempted homicide in April, for which he had been preventively interned until a few weeks ago in a juvenile justice center. In fact, the same sources assure that the decision had been made since August 31st and was proposed by Del Cacho himself, who announced his resignation upon returning from vacation.

"It was requested and agreed upon and it has coincided in time," said Minister Sílvia Paneque this Tuesday when announcing the relief in the position, distancing it from the crime in Manresa. Regarding the events in the capital of the Bages region and what solutions the government is working on in the face of similar possible events, Paneque explained that there are different departments involved—Interior, Justice, and Social Rights—and that work must be done jointly through public policies and addressed "with rigor and serenity."

Del Cacho arrived at the department on September 17, 2024, when he was appointed to the position he is now leaving. Within the Department of Justice, the General Directorate of Penal Execution in the Community and Juvenile Justice depends on the Secretariat of Penal Measures and Reintegration. It deals with penal measures affecting minors, whether they involve internment or not, and also those affecting adults but which do not entail deprivation of liberty.

Born in Huesca in 1961, he has been a judge since 1997 and has practiced in the courts of first instance and instruction in Igualada, Tortosa, Ceuta, and Lleida. From 2005 until he joined the department, he had occupied the position of magistrate of the juvenile court of Tarragona, where he will now return. One of the most notable issues of his mandate has been the signing of the working conditions agreement for juvenile justice center officials.

Paz Vallès

As for Paz Vallès, she has been practicing as a lawyer since 2011, and has been working at the law firm Molins Defensa Penal since 2014. Among the cases she has taken on is the defense of the Guàrdia Urbana officer who was acquitted last year for having shot and wounded a homeless person on Passeig Sant Joan in 2020. She also took charge, six years ago, of representing the Barcelona firefighters who demanded that the colleague who had been caught and convicted for filming them in the locker room not be allowed to return to the force.

Vallès was also a member of the governing board of the Barcelona Bar Association (ICAB) from 2021 to 2025, and chaired the digital transformation commission, the relations with the administration of justice commission, and the drugs commission. She has also participated as an independent expert in the Barcelona City Council's working group on multi-recidivism, designing the pilot plan to offer legal assistance to victims of repeat offenders.

She holds a law degree and a master's degree in criminal law and criminal sciences from the University of Barcelona; she also holds a master's degree in criminal law practice from the Illustrious Barcelona Bar Association, and in mediation and alternative conflict resolution, also from the ICAB. She specializes in procedural law and in restorative justice and extrajudicial conflict resolution.