Spanish judges lead to the European Commissioner the dangers of the reform of the law announced by Bolaños

The association, second in number of associates of the judicial career with about a thousand assets, denounces that it contemplates a forced transfer of judges when they ascend to magistrates «Anachronistic and severely harmful to family reconciliation». Also that supposes «a serious risk to judicial independence because it creates a ‘back door’ to integrate substitute judges in the judicial career outside the oppositions that guarantee equality, merit and the ability of applicants ».

AJFV exposes before the European commissioner that the forced contest three years after promoting the category of magistrate or prosecutor «does not apply to any other official in Spain and was eliminated in the judicial career in 2009, but, surprisingly, It has been introduced in the draft of the Organic Law of the Judiciary and of the Law that regulates the Statute of the Fiscal Ministry »addressed in the Council of Ministers of January 21.

The forced transfer is “an anachronistic and severely harmful proposal for personal and family conciliation, which does not apply to any other public official,” AJFV denounces andn the battery of allegations that you have presented to this reform and that is now in the process of audience and open public information.

Back door for substitutes

The association has sent a battery of allegations to this reform to the new commissioner of justice of the European Union, Irish Michael McGrath, since it is a serious risk to judicial independence when creating when creating A ‘back door’ to designate judges out of the opposition system that guarantees access in conditions of equality, merit and capacity.

For AJFV, the reform establishes a route of entry into the judicial career for the substitute judges «that does not correspond in any way with the level of demand and excellence that has unbeatable to be knotted to those who intend to occupy a place in the judicial ranks. It is intended, thus, to treat in a way unjustifiably unequal to those who are going to occupy positions of identical responsibility, ”he says.

They consider that this “exceptional” system of access to the judicial career supposes A comparative grievance and direct damage to the thousands of opponents In our country and also affects the structure of the judicial career because, to prosper, a fictitious seniority would be recognized in front of the regular admission judges by the free shift.

Democratic system

As defended by the president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Isabel Perelló, before Minister Bolaños during the inauguration of offices of the new members to the judicial career, AJFV defends that the current access system is democratic and not You need any reform.

«The draft law is presented under the idea that it aims to democratize access to oppositions,” they affirm. Instead, AJFV defends that »the current system is democratic and meritocratic, since it allows people from any origin to access the judiciary through individual effort. This Memoristic system also exists in oppositions Like notaries, property registrars or resident internal medical and, in the case of the judicial career, the training in the Judicial School continues «.

They remember that, since 1996, “66% of approved judges have been women, 74.7% of them did not have relatives in the legal sector and 31.87% come from families without higher studies.” These data “confirm that the current system is democratic and meritocratic, allowing people of any origin to access the judiciary through individual effort,” they argue in the allegations.

For AJFV spokesman Sergio Oliva, this preliminary project “comes to verify the deep distrust of the Executive Power with respect to the judges.” «Although there are lights in the reform, such as the legal regime of the scholarship system, the truth is that there are many shadows that this ambitious reform throws. AJFV opposes the implementation of any access system to the judicial career that could call into question the criteria of equality, merit and capacity and we understand that it is not constitutionally viable to carry out a process of stabilization of substitute judges and interim prosecutors for Do not respect the principles of equality, merit and capacity. Faced with this privileged treatment for substitute judges, the right to reconcile career judges that amount to the category of magistrates with the restoration of the forced transfer three years after promoting the category of magistrate, ”he expands.