The president of Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC)Juan Luis Lorenzo, has insisted on demanding from the State and the Canary Islands Government more personal and material resources in the face of the rebound in litigation on the islands in 2022, with 181 issues per 1,000 inhabitantsand the consequences of the strikes of lawyers and civil servants this year.
In statements to journalists, before presiding the opening ceremony of the Judicial Yearhas pointed out that the TSJC is trying to implement reinforcement measures and more bodies, and a study of litigation has been prepared which shows the need for the creation of judicial bodies to take into account the foreign population that receives Canary Islands.
The study has confirmed that the fact that the Canary Islands economy is based on the services sector increases litigation, by generating more conflicts than other sectors, indicated Lorenzo, who added that the Canary Islands led the litigation rate in 2022, the average of which Spain is from 140 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The Judiciary depends on the means provided by the administrations, said Lorenzo, who has insisted that it is necessary to create more bodies and new organizational means that the State must facilitate through the new laws of organizational and procedural efficiency. and digital “that have been left in dry dock at the end of the legislature“.
The appointment of officials when casualties occur, the filling of vacancies, the provision of more positions and reinforcement measures, are many other demands, stressed Lorenzo, who has also referred again to the “unsustainable” situation of the Judiciary after five years of delay in the renewal of its General Council, as the interim president of the Supreme Court, Francisco Marín, already said at the opening of the Judicial Year.
The senior prosecutor of the Canary Islands, María Farnés Martínez, in her speech also stressed the “urgency” of providing the islands with the necessary infrastructure, including a new Palace of Justice in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in conditions similar to that of The Gran Canarian palmsgiven that The current facilities prevent the growth of judicial bodies and the Prosecutor’s Office itself.
Great reform of the criminal process
And he has said that one of the strategic objectives of this Judicial Year must be to promote a reform of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to be able address the “great reform of the criminal process” that Spain requires and that places a judge of guarantees in “the role that corresponds to him and attributes to the Public Prosecutor’s Office the direction of the investigation.
Martínez has also reported that from the Prosecutor’s Office Report for 2022, the year in which the 144,999 criminal proceedings, 81,621 in the province of Las Palmas and 63,373 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which has represented a decrease of 0.8% compared to 2021, although crimes against life and integrity have increased in the eastern islands.
He has emphasized that there is an upward trend in crimes against sexual freedom in all its variants, especially in Las Palmaswith an increase of 23.41% compared to the 10% increase of Santa Cruz of Tenerife.
The senior prosecutor has also referred to the procedures on sexist violence, with a total of 6,854 in the province of Las Palmas and 5,673 in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and has warned that It is necessary to reduce the time in preparing psychological and autopsy reportswhich take up to two years, something “unacceptable”, and has insisted that it is necessary to delve into the prevention of these crimes.
He has alluded to the crimes of human trafficking and immigration, which in the Canary Islands are more present due to the migratory phenomenon since African immigrants who arrive on the coasts of the islands do so in precarious conditions.
These are conditions that make them the object of exploitation of all kinds and, therefore, it has appealed for a response to this drama in a stable manner and with proper facilities.
Hate and discrimination crimes are another of the concerns of the Prosecutor’s Office, according to Martínez, who has also considered that in order to effectively confront economic crime, it is necessary to The Canary Islands prosecutor’s offices have people who are experts in financial, tax and accounting matters.
Regarding juvenile crimes, the slowness in crime prevention programs Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands and the school authority, which causes cases to become chronic, has been another of the complaints in his speech.
