Judges go on strike
Court system paralysed over national dispute
MORE than half the judges in the Valencia region took part in the national strike at courthouses on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Regional Supreme Court (TSJ) noted that 294 out of the 566 judges and magistrates working in Valencia opted not to attend work. This led to the ‘suspension’ of 352 trails and judicial processes in the region on that day, she explained, with 177 of these in Alicante province. The strike action was called in the middle of a public outcry over political interference in the judicial system, which sees the big two political parties (Partido Popular, PP and Socialists, PSOE) decide on which judges are appointed to the top positions in the courts.
Associations representing judges and public prosecutors are demanding that the minister for justice, Dolores Delgado enter into negotiations.
As well as calling for more independence, they want more resources to relieve the overloaded justice system and better pay. State news agency EFE noted that six months ago – in her role as a public prosecutor – Sra Delgado had joined a similar strike directed against the former PP government. Judges representatives called on her to keep to her convictions and ‘defend the same line’ now that she is running the justice department.
One of their main demands is that the general council supervising the court system – the CGPJ – should be elected by judges themselves, rather than by political appointments.
“Under the current system there will always be doubts over the independence of the judiciary,” noted a spokesman.