Why are judges and prosecutors on strike?

BarcelonaThe courts are facing three days of a strike by judges and prosecutors called by all professional associations except the progressive ones. The protest aims to halt the reforms to the judiciary and prosecutorial careers that the Spanish government is processing as an emergency measure, but the concentrations that the associations themselves have promoted until now Slogans against the Spanish government have been heard. Pedro Sánchez's executive lamented that Vox and the far right want to "politicize" the call.

The five associations that have called for the strike have maintained it despite the veto of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), which does not see any "regulatory support" because the right to strike is not regulated for judges, and has opted not to set minimum services. Nor has the Attorney General's Office. The Spanish government has asked the CGPJ and the Attorney General's Office to report daily on the professionals who have not shown up for work in order to deduct the corresponding part of their salary. The first day of the strike coincides with the start of the new organization system in the courts of the smaller judicial districts. This change has also prompted protests from various sectors of the legal profession, and a call from the CCOO (Working Workers' Commissions) is calling for court officials to protest outside the regional government headquarters.

What are the reasons for the strike?

The associations are protesting various points of a law that seeks to change the system of access to the judicial and prosecutorial careers and the reform of the Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office Selection of judges and prosecutors

The Spanish government wants to move from a model of multiple-choice and oral examinations to one that includes a written test and not just assesses memorization. Furthermore, it wants to legally enforce scholarships for candidates to "democratize" access to these programs, a move the strike organizers do not criticize. It also wants to convert the legal studies center into a public exam preparation center. For the associations, this poses a "risk of ideological selection" and they believe it will "lower the excellence of knowledge" required of candidates.

The role of the Attorney General

According to the associations calling for the strike, the reform of the Prosecutor's Office will mean giving more powers to the Attorney General, a position that "will continue to be appointed by the government without any prior vetting" and "without checks and balances." This criticism, the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, considers "unfounded." The reform also proposes giving prosecutors the power to conduct investigations, a role previously reserved for judges, and the Attorney General, as the highest authority of all State prosecutors, would also be ultimately responsible.

The Fourth Shift

In addition to the competitive examinations, a system for accessing the judiciary that has been in place for four decades is the so-called fourth round. It's a system designed to allow jurists with years of experience and recognized prestige to reach the magistrate ranks, but the government now wants to modify it and extend it to the prosecutor's career as well. The changes would involve both the selection tests and an increase in the number of places reserved for the fourth round compared to those who enter through traditional competitive examinations. According to the associations, this will facilitate "arbitrary discretionary access" that would be detrimental to those who pass the competitive examinations.

Stabilization of substitutes

The Ministry of Justice has also announced an extraordinary stabilization process for 1,004 substitute judges and prosecutors, positions almost entirely occupied by women and where, unlike other sectors, temporary positions can last for decades. The government has explained that this complies with the European Commission's order, but the strike organizers criticize the fact that it will mean "establishing an extraordinary access route" without "guarantees of transparency and rigor," which they see as a comparative grievance for those who oppose them.

Political election in the judicial ethics commission

Changes are also planned in the system for selecting members of the judicial ethics commission. Until now, it was composed of six judges appointed directly by their entire careers, who then chose the seventh member, an academic expert in ethics or legal philosophy.

The Spanish government also wants to prohibit associations of judges and prosecutors from receiving private funding, a decision Bolaños justified as ensuring "the appearance of impartiality" and preventing them from receiving funding from companies that could end up involved in a legal case. For the five associations calling for the strike, this represents a limitation on their activities and "a direct attack on their operational capacity."