Ángel Méndez, Juan Antonio Victoria and David Vidal aspire to relieve Antonio Navarro, who resigns from the second term, with the challenge of improving services to lawyers and achieving the City of Justice
Three candidates will compete on December 22 for the position of dean of the Cartagena Bar Association, an institution that represents 1,156 lawyers from Cartagena, La Unión and Fuente Álamo, as well as from other municipalities in the region. These professionals will be the ones who will be able to participate in the organized voting to choose the person who will occupy this position and others in the entity. Ángel Méndez Bernal, current vice dean, Juan Antonio Victoria Ros and David Vidal Torres will seek the support of their teammates to replace Antonio Navarro Selfa. After four years leading the College, where he was previously vice dean in José Muelas’ team, Navarro resigns to aspire to a second term, “for personal and professional reasons,” he explained to La VERDAD this Tuesday.
The shortlist of candidates for dean, along with the list of candidates for four other renewal positions on the Governing Board (first, third, fifth deputy and treasurer), was confirmed by the College through a circular sent to its members. And, according to sources from the institution, on the day of the elections the suffrage of each of the 680 practicing lawyers will have the value of one vote and each of the 476 non-practicing, half a vote.
Méndez, Victoria and Vidal, all of them born in Cartagena, will detail their respective projects in the coming days, but all of them agreed to point out to this newspaper that together with the improvement of services to members, they will have among their priorities claiming the opening of the Court of the Mercantile, the construction of the City of Justice and the creation of new judicial bodies in Cartagena.
Professionals and 400,000 citizens
To understand the dimension of this judicial area, it must be taken into account that the courts and tribunals located in the city serve some 400,000 people, in the criminal, civil, social (labor), contentious-administrative areas. This includes the population of seven municipalities, since the Provincial Court covers matters from the three aforementioned towns plus three in the Mar Menor area (Los Alcázares, San Javier and San Pedro del Pinatar) and Torre Pacheco.
“I take the step of presenting myself as dean because I have worked with two deans, both very good, and I can contribute my eight-year experience and great enthusiasm,” said Ángel Méndez. 56 years old and 29 years of professional practice, he recalls that he has participated in the Deontology and Fees commissions of the College and that, since entering the profession, he has been on duty. With all this baggage, he points out, he hopes to deserve the trust of the members and “defend with the greatest firmness the achievement of historical demands of the Cartagena judicial district, such as the immediate opening of Mercantile Court 4 and the project of the City of Justice” .
Méndez also intends “to continue guaranteeing compliance with the statutory obligations of the College and to introduce new improvements in the services to professionals and citizens, for example with greater proximity to the users of free justice.” On a professional level, he belongs to an office, located on Ángel Bruna street, where he handles civil, criminal, administrative and commercial matters.
Juan Antonio Victoria, who is 61 years old and 35 in professional practice, presents himself “out of a clear vocation of service.” He was eight years fifth deputy, in the teams of Carlos Agulló, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Luis Ruipérez, and now he faces the challenge of being elected dean until December 2025.
Although it emphasizes that the College makes decisions “in a collegiate manner”, it indicates that among its priorities would be to expand and improve “services to members and citizens.” And he cites the modernization of the facilities, increasing the supply of training and ending “overcrowding” in attendance at the duty shift “.
Regarding infrastructures of the administration of justice, it also aspires to “high goals”, such as contributing to the construction of the City of Justice. It also calls for the opening of new courts. Victoria belongs to an office, located in Plaza San Francisco, specialized in labor and social security matters and that also deals with criminal, civil and family issues.
In the case of David Vidal, 51 years old, he appears after “more than 25 years of professional experience” and his candidacy is understood as part of “the obligation of all members to form part of the Governing Board of the College.” “I have been encouraged by my own colleagues to give a change to the School,” he says. And he gives as examples the need to “guarantee the timely collection of fees in the shift of office, demand the City of Justice, improve the judicial facilities and the College and carry out an effective intermediation with public bodies.”
Vidal defines himself as “conciliatory and compliant.” His professional firm, located on Calle San Fernando with Santa Florentina, handles cases of all specialties, except commercial.
Renewal of positions and supports
According to the informative circular of the College, the candidates for the first deputy are Domingo José Núñez Pérez, Ana Belén Ruipérez Martín and Violeta del Rey Mazón; a third deputy, Esteban Soto Galindo and José Luis Pretel Jiménez; already fifth deputy, Lucía Cobacho García, Mario Vázquez López and Rafael Sánchez de San Pedro. The only candidate for treasurer is José Nieto Molina, who already holds the position.
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