Lawyers from Lanzarote have gathered this Thursday in front of the doors of the Arrecife Courts "for the duty shift and the legal profession" on the occasion of the Day of Free Justice and have once again demanded "minimally dignified remuneration" for the lawyers of this shift, as well as "respect" for the group.
In the concentration, the dean of the Lanzarote Bar Association, Carlos Viña, read a manifesto explaining that "the duty shift in our country is running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." "Without stopping, because the defense and access to Justice in equal conditions for all citizens cannot allow a single minute of rest," he said.
Viña pointed out that the service "aims to comply with that constitutional mandate that establishes that "all people have the right to defense and assistance of a lawyer...", indicating that, for such a task, "many lawyers prepare themselves every day." "More than 45,000 throughout Spain, ready to ensure that this mandate comes off the written paper and becomes a fabulous reality," he specified.
Recover the remuneration level "shattered in 2010 and 2012"
"The duty shift has, to its honor and pride, the respect of the citizens, being one of the best valued public services," continued the dean of the Bar Association, stating that "it is in public administrations where it must be claimed most often." "Because one thing must be understood, the lack of respect towards the duty lawyer is the lack of respect towards the citizen, and we simply, and we say it without bitterness, are not going to allow that", he warned.
In this sense, the lawyers have taken advantage of the concentration "to send a clear message, in case it has not yet been understood in some sphere." "That our latest demands before different political and social operators were not to enrich ourselves, which would also be a crude realization of the problem and a lack of respect for the lawyers of the duty shift."
Thus, the dean of the Bar Association explained that they were "simply" asking, and that they will continue to do so "as many times as necessary," "to recover the remuneration level, shattered in 2010 and 2012." "Only that and nothing more than that," denying that "the economy" moves them in their actions. "We are mainly moved by the desire to help that forgotten part of society, where poverty camps, but not for that reason lacking rights, and among them, the right to Justice in equal conditions. And that is where the duty lawyers come in, who only ask for minimally dignified remuneration," said Carlos Viña, who concluded "also asking for respect and understanding for the figure of the lawyer in general."
