The territorial member of the General Council of the Judiciary for the Canary Islands, Inmaculada Montalbán, has demanded the implementation of an Office for Attention to Victims of Gender Violence in Arrecife. Her request is based on the data recorded in the Court of Violence against Women in Arrecife, which in this last quarter of the year, which has not yet ended, issued 87 percent of convictions. "Specifically, there were 39 convictions and six acquittals," she stated, while pointing out that "the data is higher than the national average."
Therefore, according to Montalbán, this office is so necessary, and it is not explained why it has been "closed for about two years." "I will look for the reasons," she indicated, while pointing out that in the second quarter of 2011 alone, 97 complaints were filed in Lanzarote, 62 of them from foreign women. "This is a very striking piece of data, because it is not usual to obtain it," she stated.
Likewise, Inmaculada Montalbán wanted to emphasize "the considerable workload" that the Court of Violence against Women of Arrecife supports and, although she indicated that the facilities she has visited are "reasonably good," she insisted on the need to prevent encounters between "victims of gender violence and defendants" in the Courts of Arrecife.
"The Justice building is spacious and modern and there is the possibility of enabling a place for victims and their children to wait without having to contact the defendant. This would improve the provision of the service and avoid the added damage that occurs to the victims, who must face the aggressor again," Montalbán indicated.
Separation of jurisdictions
This has been one of the conclusions of the visit of the territorial member of the General Council of the Judiciary for the Canary Islands and the president of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), Antonio Castro Feliciano, who met this Monday with the dean of the judges in Arrecife, Aurora García, to, among other matters, analyze the evolution of the separation of the two jurisdictions, which occurred at the beginning of the year. "It was divided and the civil jurisdiction was assigned to five courts and the criminal jurisdiction to four courts," Montalbán explained, who pointed out that this division "was necessary and is a good measure, which favors specialization and better management of resources."
"The judges will dedicate themselves either to the field of instruction and investigation of crimes or to the civil field of claiming amounts or evictions. We are still in an intermediate period, in which some courts still have work from before the separation of jurisdictions, but everything is working normally," Montalbán indicated..
In her tour of the Courts of Arrecife, Montalbán also noted "the overload" that the courts of first instance have. "They will probably need some increase in officials and it must be addressed in this sense, because more personnel is needed in the field of first instance," she defended.
The return of the Provincial Court
In addition, she pointed out that both she and the president of the TSJC, Antonio Castro Feliciano, are working to ensure that the presence of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas is resumed in both Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. "It is very important to guarantee the accessibility of litigants to the service, we are working to see what is the most suitable measure to bring the Provincial Court back to Lanzarote," she indicated.
In this sense, Montalbán was scheduled to meet this Tuesday with the dean of the Lanzarote Bar Association, Francisco Torres Stinga, to address this issue. "We have contacts with the Ministry of Justice to be able to reinstate the presence of the Court in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura," she assured.
Likewise, she stated that "it would be necessary for Arrecife" to have a court for contentious-administrative matters. "Arrecife generates enough lawsuits against the administrations to have a court for contentious-administrative matters," she pointed out. However, she pointed out that the CGPJ is working on "a line that surpasses the traditional conception of the court and is advancing to what are called collegiate courts." In this framework, "there is less difficulty in creating a position for a magistrate of contentious-administrative matters."
In addition, the territorial member of the General Council of the Judiciary for the Canary Islands has insisted on the need to implement "common notification and seizure services." "They would be located in the Justice building of Arrecife and would rationalize the work of the judicial body. That is, we would avoid that today three summoners from three different courts arrive at the same house, as happens. Through this service, one would go and make the notifications of the three courts. We will work with the Ministry of Justice so that this is put into operation," Montalbán defended.
