The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has recognized the Arrecife de Lanzarote Magistrate's Court with a national award for Quality of Justice, for its initiative Program and guide for comprehensive care for people with disabilities in the judicial district of Arrecife.
The award-winning project, promoted by the team led by the magistrate judge of Arrecife, Adalberto de la Cruz Correa, presents in an innovative way a series of measures and instruments that, in accordance with the latest legislative modifications, "ambitiously and globally pursue guaranteeing compliance with the right to effective judicial protection for people with disabilities, their families and their environment, as well as comprehensive care for this group, provided in conditions of equality," states the note from the Standing Committee that today announced the awards.
This is the third consecutive year in which the Canary Islands Justice system has been officially recognized by the government of Spanish judges as exemplary in its annual awards; in 2022, in the IX edition, the Council recognized the magistrates of Gran Canaria Ramón Toubes, María del Rosario Arellano and Javier Ercilla García in the Most Efficient Justice section, and in the Most Accessible Justice section, the Dean's Office of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, being its owner Oscar González Prieto, and in 2023, in the X awards, the Court of Instruction number 3 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was awarded in the Most Accessible Justice section, for the project Pilot Development of the Court of Violence against Children and Adolescents, headed by Magistrate Tomás Luis Martín Rodríguez.
In 2015, the Government of the Canary Islands had received recognition from the CGPJ in the Most Transparent Justice category.
In the current edition, the award to the Arrecife Magistrate's Court is shared ex aequo with the Superior Court of Justice of the Region of Murcia, for its project Why am I waiting: putting users in charge of the system.
The Canary Islands Justice system has also been recognized in this edition with the granting of the award for the most effective Justice to the Niño Jesús University Children's Hospital of Madrid, for its project "Meeting between professionals of the judiciary and medicine", which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Currently, one of its co-directors is the magistrate from Gran Canaria, Tomás Martín, as the highest responsible for the pilot project of the Court of Violence against Children and Adolescents.
The Arrecife project now recognized by the CGPJ - the award will be physically presented in the coming months - seeks to improve the quality of judicial care for people with disabilities. It guarantees comprehensive care for these people and seeks to satisfy their needs, which in many cases transcend the strictly legal sphere. It also aims to ensure that they can understand, in conditions of equality, the resolutions that are notified to them from the courts.
The service has been provided since last January, every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the counter located next to the Magistrate's Court. With it, people with disabilities and their families can find not only legal but also social answers.
It is provided by the Fundación Canaria de Apoyos Adepsi, which moves to the judicial building an information work that was already being carried out outside the courts, both in public administrations and by third sector entities.
The initiative is part of the Guide for Attention to People with Disabilities approved by the Board of Judges of Arrecife, ratified by the Governing Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. This body recognized and congratulated the Board of Judges for the initiative, novel at least in the Canary Islands.
The project has aroused the support, commitment and collaboration of the Ministry of the Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands. A space has been enabled in the judicial building of Arrecife for the provision of the information service. Resolutions adapted to easy reading have been made available to court personnel for notification in judicial cases involving people with disabilities.
The social information service for people with disabilities has the contribution of the Island Council of Lanzarote, in an exercise of collaboration between administrations that seeks to achieve better care for citizens and that this is provided in conditions of equality.
