The Ministry of Justice, local administration, and public functionaries undergo a thorough diagnosis before designing the first strategic justice plan, as the board has assumed powers 28 years ago and aims to «position Andalusia at the forefront of justice quality» by 2030, as mentioned by the branch’s counselor, José Antonio Nieto.
To enable operators from all legal fields, the ministry met on Wednesday in Seville with a hundred professionals from Western Andalusia, and today, hundreds from Eastern Andalusia are participating in Granada to work in groups to define more urgent needs and propose viable solutions that will be incorporated into the document.
Nieto opened these days with the President of the Superior Justice Court in Andalusia (TSJA), Lorenzo del Río, and the Superior Prosecutor of Andalusia, Ana Tárrago. «We are in a decisive phase of designing the strategic justice plan on which we started working in January 2023, and this must be the guide on which Andalusian justice will evolve by 2030. We wanted the analysis to be finalized in the judicial capital in Andalusia to provide a basis for all legal operators,» he said.
To achieve this, the ministry has organized two participatory conferences with judges, prosecutors, justice administration lawyers, officials, forensic experts, unions, lawyers, legal advisors, social work graduates, as well as psychologists, social workers, and other technical support services professionals supporting justice.
The conferences took place on Wednesday in Seville with professionals from Cádiz, Córdoba, Huelva, and Seville, and today they are meeting in Granada with those working in Almería, Granada, Jaén, and Málaga. The aim is to create a justice model that aligns with the 21st century, agile and efficient, offering the best service to citizens and ending 28 years of «improvising measures to solve emerging problems.»
Nieto argued that justice is «a public service as important as health, education, or addiction, but sometimes it is relegated and lacks visibility.» However, it is fundamental for democracy and economic development, ensuring legal certainty, and the best-functioning communities are those with «not too many plans.»
The starting point is the preliminary diagnosis conducted by the ministry, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from official statistics, on-site visits to 85 judicial sections and 156 offices in Andalusia, and surveys with officials and professionals. One of the main issues is that justice involves multiple operators dependent on different administrations.
The Board acts as a provision administration, responsible for ensuring the material and human resources of judicial bodies whose creation depends on the state, led by judges appointed by the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and coordinated by LAJ addicts of the central government. Prosecutors, as well as lawyers, legal advisors, social work graduates, and other liberal professionals.
Nieto urged participants to take advantage of these days to «discuss everyone, not just each one,» with an eye on the ultimate goal of improving the service provided to citizens and ensuring that «Andalusia in 2030 is as relevant with better justice administration as they are in 2022.»
Over 2,000 million euros
This requires actions in infrastructure, digitalization, personnel, service humanization, and sustainability. The planned global investment in these five areas will exceed 2,000 million in the coming years.
The first area is the judicial infrastructure plan for 2023-2030, presented last year, which aims to complete the network of justice cities in the eight capitals, starting with Granada, already underway after acquiring the construction of the building. Building for the first phase and achieving one hundred percent performance of judicial sections to end the current dispersion and reduce the current 156 headquarters to 91.
The second area is a digitalization plan to transition from paper justice to data justice, which began with the implementation of the new @adriano procedural system in all courts and will continue with the full digitization of the judicial archive. As of 2024, paper expenses exceeded eight million.
The third area is human resources management, especially complex due to the multiplicity of agents depending on different administrations. The new Law on Public Justice Efficiency has already been enacted with more flexible structures, avoiding stagnant compartments, with courts instead of single-person courts, common services, and officials not attached to a specific body.
Nieto emphasized that the fourth area of work is the humanization of justice, with special attention to the most vulnerable. When a citizen enters the courts, they are in a complex situation, either as a victim or defendant.
In this regard, efforts have been made to eliminate architectural and sensory barriers, as well as to promote understanding, and mediation commitment as an alternative conflict resolution method, based on agreement and dialogue to reduce litigation excess.
Finally, the fifth area aims to achieve sustainable justice in terms of the environment, reducing paper consumption and energy expenditure exceeding 10 million annually, with the installation of solar panels or photovoltaic sensors for automatic and outdoor court lighting.
Nieto concluded by urging participants to work together in these days to «identify the most urgent problems and propose viable solutions that allow all professionals to work under the best possible conditions, as this is a guarantee that citizens will receive the best service.»
TSJA and Superior Prayer
Both the President of TSJA and the Superior Prosecutor of Andalusia express their gratitude to the counselors for the «very significant effort» to improve the system through a major transformation with the efficiency law and their commitment to involve professionals.
In this context, Ana Tárrago argued that «we can help because we are the ones who truly work and encounter deficiencies. We must be realistic and aware of where we started, so we encourage participants to transfer not only requests but also requirements, enthusiasm, and effort to help improve service for citizens.»
Lorenzo del Río emphasized the importance of defining «where we are now and where we want the ministry’s effort to truly know what to improve.»
For the President of TSJA, there are significant challenges in terms of infrastructure, technology, and personnel management. «We are in a pivotal year, with the implementation of the efficiency law that implies an organizational change, and it is necessary for all those working in the courts to make efforts to align everything in the same direction so that justice is not a problem for citizens.»