SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 9. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The judicial bodies of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands registered a total of 371,783 cases last year, 9.7% more than in the previous year, left 157,992 pending resolution (1.6% more than in 2020) and 369,832 disputes were resolved, 14.4% more than in the previous year, according to the report on the situation of judicial bodies throughout the State that the statistics section of the General Council of the Judiciary has released this Wednesday.
In 2021, the activity of the judicial bodies returned to normal, which had been altered during 2020 by the covid-19 health crisis. This is evidenced by the data contained in the CGPJ report. According to the study of the government of the judges, the Canary Islands were once again last year -as it had been in the previous two- the territory of the State where more litigation took place: 171.10 lawsuits per 1,000 inhabitants, 38.7 more than the State average (132.33) and 27.01 more than the second in the ranking, Andalusia, which computed 144.09 lawsuits per 1,000 inhabitants.
Regarding the entry of cases, the Canary Islands registered a general increase last year that affected the four jurisdictions: in Civil, the judicial bodies went from 124,720 new lawsuits in 2020 to 151,996 (17.9% more); in the criminal field, it went from 176,464 preliminary proceedings to 182,483 (+3.2%); in the contentious-administrative jurisdiction, it went from 7,996 lawsuits in 2020 to 10,571 in 2021 (+24.3%), and in the social jurisdiction it increased from an income of 26,195 cases in 2020 to 26,733 last year (+2.01 %).
Regarding matters in process, the decrease in pending in the social jurisdiction stands out, which went from the end of 2020 with 21,152 matters in the process of being resolved to the end of 2021 with 18,629 pending cases, that is, 13.5% less. And this despite the fact that litigation increased significantly, since the old labor court went from resolving 22,247 cases in 2020 to 29,199 in 2021, 23% more.
Continuing with the matters in process, the Canarian investigating courts, which had ended 2020 with 39,423 matters to be resolved, closed 2021 with 39,441, 0.02% more; the Civil bodies went from 88,101 pending matters in 2020 to 92,343 at the end of last year (+14.5%), and the contentious-administrative jurisdiction increased its year-on-year pending by 11.6% (from 6,693 appeals pending resolution to end of 2020 to 7,579 on December 31, 2021).
In the chapter on matters resolved throughout the year, the figures for the courts of the Islands showed positive balances: the criminal jurisdiction went from resolving 170,503 cases in 2020 to 183,819 in 2021 (+7.2%); the civil order went from 116,145 lawsuits in 2020 to 146,796 in 2021 (+20%); the social jurisdiction increased its effectiveness by 23%, going from 22,247 cases resolved in 2020 to 29,199 (+23%) last year, and the Administrative Litigation, which in 2020 had responded to 7,433 appeals, responded last year to 10,018, 25% more.
FIVE MONTHS TO CATCH UP
The study of the Government of the judges reveals that the pending rate (quotient between pending matters at the end of the period and those resolved in that same period) of the Canarian courts in 2021 was 0.43, seven tenths below the average national, 0.50. The lower it is, the more positive the data is, and last year the Archipelago was the sixth community with the lowest rate together with Castilla Y León. The community with the best rate last year was Navarra (0.30), followed by Aragón (0.32), Asturias (0.33), Extremadura (0.40) and Cantabria (0.42). Then came the Canary Islands and Castilla León.
At the top of the table, the community with the worst litigation rate last year was Castilla-La Mancha (0.68), followed by Murcia (0.61), the Balearic Islands (0.55) and Catalonia (0. 54).
The report from the statistical service of the General Council of the Judiciary details that if the annual rate is multiplied by 12, the result is an estimate of the number of months that would be needed, with the same resolution rate and without any income, to end the quarrel in the territory under study: following this rule, the Canary Islands would currently need 5.16 months to catch up; the State, 6 months; Castilla-La Mancha, 8.16 months, and Navarra, to go to two extreme examples, 3.6 months.
As for the resolution rate (quotient between the cases resolved and those admitted in a certain period), the CGPJ study states that that of the Canary Islands during 2021 was 0.99, two tenths below the national average (1.01 ), with the vast majority of the communities around these figures (The highest rate was that of Andalusia, 1.03, and the lowest was shared by the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Madrid).
Regarding the congestion rate (quotient where the numerator is formed by the sum of the cases pending at the beginning of the period and those registered in that period, and where the denominator is the cases resulting in said period; the better the smaller it is), that of the Canary Islands was 1.43 last year, six tenths below the national average (1.49). The Community with the worst rate (that is, the highest) was Castilla-La Mancha (1.68), and the best, Navarra and Aragón, with 1.29.
NATIONAL DATA
Regarding the global data of the Spanish State in 2021, in the past year, 6,270,334 cases entered the courts and tribunals, 13.4% more than in 2020, and just 0.1% less than in 2019. In the same period, a total of 6,321,593 cases were resolved, 20.9% more than in 2020, and 4% more than in 2019; and 3,145,054 cases were pending, which represents a 0.5% decrease in pending compared to the end of 2020.
All jurisdictions experienced a significant increase in both the number of cases registered and those resolved. In the Civil jurisdiction, the number of cases admitted in 2021 was 2,584,395, which has meant an increase of 16.7% compared to the previous year, and 8.4% compared to 2019. In this jurisdiction, 2,585 were resolved. 918 cases, 26.5% more than in 2020, and 15.1% more than in 2019. This level of activity allowed the pending case to remain stable, with 1,744,280 pending at the end of the year, a 0, 2% percent more than at the end of the previous year.
The 3,015,294 cases entered in the Criminal jurisdiction represent an increase of 10.8% compared to 2020, although they remained 6.2% below the income level of 2019. The resolved cases totaled 3,056,631, 15, 1% more than in 2020 and 4.8% less than in 2019, and the pending amounted to 817,512, that is, 1.3% less than a year before.
In the Contentious-Administrative jurisdiction, 224,622 cases were registered, 15.7% more than the previous year and 9.9% less than in 2019. The 224,489 cases resolved represented an increase of 16.9% compared to 2020 and a decrease of 0.9% compared to 2019. At the end of the year, 220,905 cases remained pending resolution, 2.3% more.
The cases registered in the Social jurisdiction, 445,837, increased by 11.4% compared to 2020 and 3.1% compared to 2019. 454,344 cases were resolved, 35.4% more than the previous year and 15.1 % more than in 2019; and the 362,266 matters pending at the end of the year represent 4 percent less than those of the fourth quarter of 2021.
