The Government of the Canary Islands asks the State to replicate children's courts on other islands

The Minister of the Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Nieves Lady Barreto, stated this Friday that the objective of the Government of the Canary Islands is to have specialized courts or sections for children on all islands, although she recalled that their creation depends on the Ministry of Justice and the judicial bodies.

The minister, in a parliamentary committee, pointed out that the regional Executive has "repeatedly" requested the Ministry of Justice to create new children's courts, such as the one already existing in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

She explained that the Organic Law of the Judiciary allows for the creation of specialized sections, but specified that this competence does not correspond to the Government of the Canary Islands. 

"If it were up to us, we would have had those courts on all the islands two years ago," she stated.

She added that the Executive has tried to open a specialized section in La Laguna, where it already has space for it, although she asserted that it has not been possible because it has not been possible to get a member of the judicial bodies to take charge of it.

Likewise, she indicated that the Canary Islands government has offered the Ministry the necessary material resources and budgetary allocations for the implementation of that section in La Laguna and has once again called for the creation of these specialized units to be mandatory.

The minister expressed her desire for there to be a children's section on each island and appealed for judicial officials to take charge of these new units.

The electronic judicial headquarters avoids trips to the courts 

In another intervention, the minister referred to the implementation of the electronic judicial headquarters and the reinforcement of municipal justice offices, which, she said, will ensure more agile access to the Administration of Justice on the non-capital islands, avoiding unnecessary travel for citizens.

The minister added that the Executive is working so that citizens "do not have to travel" to carry out simple judicial procedures through the implementation of digital tools, a line of work that, she said, "is alive" and will continue to be developed.

She indicated that the electronic judicial headquarters already allows for the consultation of files and hearings, receiving notification alerts, and carrying out procedures that previously required physically going to the judicial headquarters.

According to what has been pointed out, this digitalization represents a saving of costs and time for the citizens and contributes to a more agile resolution of procedures, avoiding in many cases the transfer to the courts of instance.

Likewise, he has highlighted the role that municipal justice offices will play, which will facilitate attention to residents so that they do not have to leave their municipalities to carry out certain procedures related to the Administration of Justice.