"The Court has been requested to pay for the ticket for a man who is practically destitute or to hold the trial by videoconference and the only solution would be to issue a search and arrest warrant so that he can attend.". This is how the dean of the Lanzarote Bar Association, Francisco Torres Stinga, told Radio Lanzarote about one of the "most dramatic" cases registered on the island, given the fact that Lanzarote citizens have to travel to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to attend those trials that are held in the Provincial Court.
Lanzarote had a bis room of the Provincial Court in the Arrecife Courts, but in March 2010, the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) decided to dissolve it, since several magistrates had resigned from the commission of services, considering that the number of oral hearings they had to assume was "too high". This fact caused that, since then, people have to travel to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the holding of trials and assume, therefore, the costs of the trip. A measure that Torres Stinga considers that "is not Justice or equal opportunities" and that shows that "the poor do not have the same access to Justice as the rich".
As an example of this, the dean of the Bar Association related the story of a man, who is "practically destitute" and who, therefore, "has no money to travel to Las Palmas". The lawyer warned that the man was a beneficiary of free justice, that he had no economic means, and it was requested that the trial be held by videoconference, as Torres Stinga explained. A fact that was denied to him, because "some civil guards from the Peninsula had already requested it" and, according to Torres Stinga, "multiple videoconferencing is not possible". Thus, despite the fact that the lawyer did travel to Las Palmas, the man could not do so and the trial was suspended.
"The Court has been requested again to pay for the man's ticket or to do it by videoconference and the Court, which in this case is tied hand and foot, has said that the only solution would be to put the man on a search and arrest warrant." That is, Torres Stinga clarifies, "any day the search and arrest warrant will be issued, they will arrest him at his workplace or at his home, they will take him to the Salto del Negro prison, and there he will be until the trial is held."
In this way, Torres Stinga expressed the need for the Provincial Court to return to Lanzarote. And it is that, on some occasions the Court does hold some trials on the island but, the dean of the Bar Association pointed out, the criterion that is followed "is arbitrary". "It depends on the entity of the matter, the number of witnesses, defendants and others. But they do not have an established criterion either, because a month and a half ago a trial was suspended here in Lanzarote for a matter of child abuse and now it is going to be held in Las Palmas. It is an irrational thing", he specified.
In this sense, Torres Stinga hopes that the presence of the Provincial Court in Lanzarote will be resumed next year, especially after having obtained the commitment, in this sense, from the territorial member of the General Council of the Judiciary for the Canary Islands, Inmaculada Montalbán, during her visit to the island. "It is a purely mathematical and coordination issue. Having three magistrates from Las Palmas come, plus a secretary and an official costs infinitely less than transferring civil guards, police, psychologists there...?", said Torres Stinga, who pointed out that he has even coincided with "up to 30 people" from the island holding a trial in Las Palmas. "The solution is yes or yes, because among other things we are going to denounce it, because we have been suffering this problem for a long time", he added.
Workload and deficiencies
The dean of the Lanzarote Bar Association also spoke about the workload of the magistrates on the island. In this sense, Torres Stinga pointed out that "it is a shared opinion that Justice in Spain does not work as well as it should" and that "Lanzarote is no stranger" to this reality. "It is true that in Lanzarote there is a very special litigation, due to the complexity of the matters", added the dean of the association, who explained that especially "there is a very important volume of matters, especially of a social nature, derived from the economic crisis, but the figures are more or less on par with the rest of the islands". Torres Stinga pointed out that the creation of judicial units "has come to alleviate the problem a little". "More are needed, but as the economic situation is, I have already been told that until 2013 no more will be created", he added.
The deficiencies of the Arrecife Palace of Justice was another topic discussed by the dean of the Bar Association, who recalled how a year ago the building was flooded due to the rains that fell on the island and had to close its doors for "a whole day". "A building must not only be built, but also equipped and maintained. Without a doubt, it is a modern building, but the shortcomings are manifested above all in the rainy season", assured Torres Stinga. "If you have a house built and it is done badly, you take the developer or the architect to the Courts and they are responsible for their actions. In Public Works it is the opposite. Here someone has done something wrong and nothing happens. And I am not only saying it for the Palace of Justice, but for many Public Works", he concluded.
RELATED NEWS
["We are creating little monsters"->63025]
