MADRID, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Ministry of Justice has informed representatives of judicial associations and judges specialized in violence against women that it will soon approve the Royal Decree to effectively implement the announced 50% increase in judges in this specialty, so that the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) can convene the necessary competitions to fill the positions.
These courts will start handling sexual freedom crimes from October, even if there is no marital or similar relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, and their heads had warned that there would be a «total collapse». On the other hand, the CGPJ estimated that the workload of the Violence against Women Courts would increase by an average of 12.9% when they take on sexual offenses.
The Secretary of State for Justice, Manuel Olmedo, met with representatives of both organizations on Tuesday to explain the increase in personnel and resources that these courts will have when assuming the new competencies derived from the Efficiency Law.
In the meetings, which Justice described as «very positive,» the ministry emphasized that taking on new responsibilities in the courts specializing in violence against women responds to a requirement of the Istanbul Convention and will allow for better care for victims by judges specialized in gender equality matters.
Regarding the increase in workload, they were informed that the calculation made by the CGPJ is very similar to the one made by the ministry itself. According to Justice, this will facilitate the approval of the measures announced by the Minister of Justice: there will be 50% more judges in this specialty, and temporarily, there will be reinforcement judges, ensuring that the courts have the same or more resources than they currently have.
«TRANSFORMATION OF JUDGES OR CREATION OF POSITIONS»
On the other hand, the distinguished judge of the Violence against Women Court in Getafe, Cira García Domínguez, stated after the meeting that the Royal Decree «seems to be accompanied by the provision of courts,» which will now be called «violence sections.»
This was precisely the main «concern» of the 135 judges’ representatives who had requested this meeting with the Secretary of State.
«The message that has been conveyed has been a hopeful and reassuring one, as they have already worked on the Royal Decree that was announced some months ago regarding the evaluation and the measures that had been taken to address and ensure that it does not lead to an extension and a mismatch in the cases we handle daily, but rather that it is accompanied by the creation of new judicial positions that will assume and reinforce the courts specializing in violence against women,» García Domínguez stated.
On his part, the national spokesperson for the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, Sergio Oliva Parrilla, detailed that Olmedo informed them that in those judicial districts where the workload is less than 100%, there will be a transformation of some investigating judges into judges specializing in violence against women. In those judicial districts where the workload is more than 100%, specific positions for judges specializing in violence against women will be created.
Furthermore, a series of investigating courts will be converted into courts working on violence against women, and through the new instance courts, the number of people working from the judiciary in this area will be increased, as indicated by the spokesperson for Judges for Democracy, Edmundo Rodríguez.
«It seems that there is an intention for all of this to be implemented fairly quickly because as of June 1, the instance courts will be created, and the new courts will already have jurisdiction,» Rodríguez conveyed to the press.