The counselor of Justice, Local Administration, and Public Function, José Antonio Nieto, has lamented that the Ministry of Justice rejects addressing the financing of the Public Service Efficiency Law in the Sectorial Conference, convened in Barcelona, as requested by several autonomous communities. «They tell us it has no cost and will generate savings,» Nieto said, although the Junta estimates that just the first phase of the law, which in Andalusia requires transforming 70 of the 85 judicial districts before July 1, will amount to 60 million euros between the new positions that will be created, the reorganization of staff to adapt to the instance courts, or the renovations in the headquarters to restructure the spaces.
Nieto regretted that due to the lack of agreement for the agenda to include, among other points to be voted on, the approval of funding for the law, several regional counselors have refused to participate in the meeting and have insisted on asking the Government to reconsider. «They tell us it has no cost and will generate savings, if that’s the case, why is the Ministry afraid to take it on and then won’t have any objections from the autonomous communities?» he emphasized.
In this regard, he criticized the talk of the delivery of 325 million to the communities when these funds, approved in 2021, came from the European Union and «reached all ministries and were distributed by obligation to the autonomous communities.» Nieto recalled that these funds are being used for Justice digitization projects that «have nothing to do with the Efficiency Law,» such as the implementation of the Dicireg system in Civil Registries.
«We are risking the operation and quality of the public Justice service at a time when it is besieged and in a critical situation,» Nieto said, hoping that «this same afternoon we could meet with minimal guarantees and less distrust than we have perceived from the Ministry to work together, which is what we want, but in a relationship of equality and shared governance.»
The Andalusian Justice system has a volume almost equivalent to the communities that do not have transferred competencies, the so-called Ministry territory. It has 85 judicial districts, 744 individual bodies that will be grouped into instance courts, 700 peace courts that will be transformed into Municipal Justice Offices, almost 10,000 officials, 550 prosecutors, and about 700 LAJ.
The Efficiency Law requires adapting 70 of the 85 judicial districts before July 1, three more by October 1, and the 12 with the most bodies (those of the eight capitals and major cities) by December 31. Additionally, on April 3, the obligation to try to resolve civil and commercial disputes before filing a lawsuit came into effect, which will require covering the expenses generated by these procedures for legal aid lawyers. Andalusia is the only community that has been covering these costs since January 1, 2024, with 400 euros per case, but only when an agreement is reached, as mediation was voluntary until now. Now, given the mandatory prior mediation, the Junta will also have to bear the costs if an agreement is not reached, when it is carried out by a duty lawyer.
A procedural requirement that Andalusians can process through the Information Points for Mediation in Andalusia (PIMA), which have been in existence since 2021, while the implementation of the Public Civil and Commercial Mediation Service (SEMCA) is finalized. Last year, the Penal Mediation Service (SEMPA) was launched to promote this alternative method of resolving disputes.
Furthermore, the Junta has launched a Judicial Infrastructure Plan 2023-2030 that will mobilize 1.5 billion euros to update the facilities of 100% of the judicial districts, with the construction of new buildings and the expansion or renovation of existing ones, adapting all to the spatial reorganization that the Justice system transformation foresees in the Efficiency Law.
Regarding the reorganization of staff according to the new Official Judicial model, in the first phase of law implementation, 80 more staff positions will be created which, along with the salary supplements that will come with new positions assuming new functions, represent an annual cost of 3.5 million.
All this implies a budgetary effort that the Andalusian Government of Juanma Moreno is assuming alone to implement the reform planned in the state law, published in January with the regional budgets already approved, according to the calendar set by the Ministry with very tight deadlines.