The Judicial and Fiscal Careers could begin an indefinite strike starting on May 16, according to announcements by the main associations of judges and prosecutors in Spain.
This is stated by the Professional Association of the Magistracy, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, the Independent Judicial Forum, the Association of Prosecutors, and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors in a joint statement.
For the moment, the association Judges and Judges for Democracy and the Progressive Union of Prosecutors have not joined the call, although they share the diagnosis and the demands, because they want to wait to know the approach of the Ministry of Finance in the meeting of the Board scheduled for May 3.
Judges and prosecutors express their concern about "the lack of sufficient resources for the administration of Justice", which they consider to be "the Cinderella", and about the workload of courts and prosecutors' offices "that affects both the quality and speed of the judicial response and the health of the judiciary and members of the prosecution service".
They regret that everything is entrusted to reinforcement plans and the dedication of professionals, which they consider cannot be the only remedy for the overload and high litigation rate.
They explain that after the "disappointing" meetings with Justice on March 31 and April 4, coinciding with the lawyers' strike, they announced their intention to draw up a calendar of "pressure measures", since they concluded without progress and only with the commitment to convene the Remuneration Board before May 10.
For the organizations that justify the strike, it is not enough to convene the board on May 3, which could be called off at any time or conclude without agreements, which they consider would be "delaying the agreement and serving as an instrument of government propaganda".
For judges and prosecutors, this call occurs in "a context of systematic and persistent abandonment of the Administration of Justice, which degrades the quality of the institutional response that citizens who go to the Courts in search of effective protection of their rights obtain from the judicial system".
The associations express their firm intention to work to reach an agreement that avoids having to implement the announced pressure measures, "from the same good faith that has encouraged us until now".
"We will not allow, however, that this responsible attitude serve once again as an alibi for the negligent inaction of the Ministries of Justice and Finance, which, within the Government, are responsible for ensuring that our country has an effective judicial system that cannot be achieved if the work of judges and prosecutors is not carried out in adequate conditions – also in terms of remuneration", he concludes.
