Andalucía will have a Strategic Justice Plan For the first time since assuming its responsibilities in the field 28 years ago, a roadmap that will establish the necessary actions in the areas of infrastructure, digitalization, personnel, humanization of citizen services, and sustainability. A plan that will be designed «Together» by those working in «one of the major public services required by democracy» instead of taking isolated measures. To achieve this, the Ministry of Justice, local administration, and public officials gathered a hundred professionals from various fields who worked together in different groups to discuss, analyze, and compile proposals that will be part of the document.
The purpose is to Create a justice model for Andalusia in line with the 21st century, agile and effective to strengthen Andalusia as a leader, as the key to economic development is ensuring legal certainty. To accomplish this, the expected overall investment will exceed two billion euros in the coming years. The starting point is the initial situation diagnosis carried out by the Ministry of Justice, local administration, and public officials by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from official statistics, on-site visits to 85 judicial areas and 156 existing offices in Andalusia, and surveys conducted for various legal operators.
To complement this diagnosis and identify priority needs, the ministry organized some Participatory Conference with judges, prosecutors, LAJs, officials, offenders, unions, professional associations, and justice advocates (psychologists, social workers, etc.) who are familiar with those working in the western courts of Andalusia in Seville and on Friday and Friday, in Granada, the professionals from the Eastern Provinces.
During the inauguration, the councilor José Antonio Nieto explained that the communities where the Justice Service is at its best are those with a plan, which in Andalusia, was never done despite having had powers transferred since 1997. He highlighted the «complexity» involved in managing justice from the administration «due to the number of legal operators interacting and needing to be a perfect team for the service to function». Operators who work together but depend on different administrations.
In this regard, the Board acts as Administration of Provisions 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 Judicial System (CGPJ) and coordinated by Lawyers for the Administration of Justice (LAJ) who depend on the central government. Prosecutors, as well as lawyers, solicitors, social workers, and other legal professionals.
Nieto emphasized that the fourth axis of work is Humanization of Justice with special attention to the most vulnerable. The councilor lamented that they are «always left out,» despite the ultimate goal being to serve the citizens who, when they come to court, are «in a complex situation.» In this field, efforts have been made for the removal of architectural and sensory barriers, but also for understanding, as well as the commitment to mediation as an alternative conflict resolution, based on agreement and dialogue against excessive litigation.
He concluded by calling on participants to «engage in a joint exercise to provide solutions» so that Andalusia becomes a legal leader in the complete transformation of the system, entering the realm of efficiency in law.
After the councilor’s intervention and the presentation of the diagnosis, the over 90 professionals were divided into four different groups to analyze the current deficiencies in the different axes that will form the plan and make proposals. These will be further analyzed in four other groups where the different operators will present their opinions based on their competencies and fields of work in justice, but to «analyze the system with the perspective of providing a better service to the citizen and not just the specific problems of each sector.