The agreement signed this Tuesday between the PSOE and the PP for the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) opens a new path to choose the five vacant positions in the Canary Islands High Court (TSJC) and in the Provincial Courts of Las Palmas and Tenerife. The five years of blockage of the judicial governing body have left serious consequences in Canarian Justice, which at the same time has had to face an increasing crime rate. For instance, in 2023, the Islands became the autonomous community with the highest litigation rate in Spain for the fifth consecutive year.
The CGPJ must now fill the 38 pending vacancies in the High Courts of Justice across the country, in addition to the pending appointments in the Supreme Court, Provincial Courts, Court of First Instance, and National Court. One of the main consequences of the expiration of the mandate was that the body was unable to make new appointments to fill the vacancies as they became available.
The judicial report of the TSJC reflects the composition of its Governing Body as of December 31, 2023, when there were already four vacancies for natural members due to the ban imposed on the CGPJ for making reciprocal appointments. The members to be elected now are the President of the Administrative Litigation Chamber and the President of the Social Chamber of the TSJ in Las Palmas, the President of the Social Chamber of the TSJ in Tenerife, and the President of the Provincial Court of Tenerife.
The CGPJ must fill the 38 vacancies in the High Courts of Justice nationwide
Furthermore, in January of this year, the mandate of Emilio Moya as President of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas also expired. The magistrate from the Sixth Section has continued to perform his duties while awaiting the unblocking of the CGPJ situation to enable a new appointment. Moya assumed the presidency of the Provincial Court in 2013 and has since renewed his position on successive occasions.
The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands was already focusing on presenting the latest annual report on the need to create at least seven new courts to address the high litigation rate. The President of the institution, Juan Luis Lorenzo Bragado, highlighted the need to establish, in the province of Las Palmas, a Court of First Instance and a Social Court for the judicial district of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In the case of Arucas, it is necessary to add a Court of First Instance and Preliminary Investigation, as in the judicial district of Telde.
High Volume of Cases
The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife also requires reinforcements to alleviate the workload in courts. Specifically, the TSJC states that it is necessary to create a Court of First Instance and Preliminary Investigation in Güímar and, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a Court of First Instance and an Administrative Litigation Court.
The Governing Body considers the creation of at least four new positions in collegiate bodies throughout 2024 as “a priority and essential” in its report. The body prioritizes the creation of two positions for the civil sections of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, one position in the Social Chamber of the TSJC, based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one position in the civil sections of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
These demands are based on the latest judicial data from 2023. The autonomous community recorded a total of 417,539 cases in civil, criminal, administrative litigation, and social jurisdictional orders, which is a 5.9% increase from 2022. Despite the rise in litigation, courts managed to increase the resolution rate by 1.3% and closed the year with 380,394 cases resolved.
The Islands mark their fifth year as the autonomous community with the highest litigation rate
The litigation rate in 2023 was 188.67 per 1,000 inhabitants, which is 43.01 more than the national average (145 cases) and 31.91 more than the next region with the highest litigation rate (Andalusia with 156.76 per 1,000 inhabitants).
Top Cities in Gran Canaria by Number of Issues in 2023
The city with the highest number of issues in absolute terms was Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with 107,458 cases, a 2.5% increase from 2022. Following closely are Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 61,490 cases (a 5.7% rise from the previous year), Arrecife de Lanzarote (28,727 cases), San Cristóbal de La Laguna (28,011), Arona (27,349), and San Bartolomé de Tirajana (26,968). The list also includes Telde, Puerto del Rosario, Granadilla de Abona, Santa María de Guía, Arucas, Güímar, Santa Cruz de La Palma, Los Llanos de Aridane, Icod de los Vinos, Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava, San Sebastián de La Gomera, and Valverde de El Hierro.
Increasing Litigiousness in the Canary Islands
According to a study by the TSJ, there have been two distinct phases in the rise of litigiousness. Between 2013 and 2015, the Canary Islands showed a higher rate than the national average but with very close values. It has been since 2015 that the difference between the Islands and the national average has become significantly more pronounced. “The reinforcement measures implemented by this Court of Justice – not all of which were granted – seek to alleviate the chronic shortage of resources, but they are not always sufficient. As indicated by the statistics, it is imperative to increase the judicial staff in the Canary Islands,” stated the TSJC.
Strained Situation
The annual report emphasizes that “the situation of the Canary judicial system, strained by the extremely high litigiousness of our Community, has barely been alleviated by the creation of new judicial units in 2023.” In December of last year, 70 new judicial units were established throughout Spain, including six for the Canary Islands: Courts of First Instance for San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Arrecife, a Court of First Instance and Instruction in Puerto del Rosario, and a Court for Gender Violence in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
However, the TSJC expressed “concern” because by the end of 2023, the three planned units for 2022 had not yet become operational. This issue affects “overwhelmed courts” due to the high workload, specifically in Granadilla de Abona and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where the creation of two Courts of First Instance and Instruction is foreseen.
The Islands require the creation of at least seven more courts to ease the workload
Recommendations for establishing new courts are based on an agreement between the CGPJ and the Ministry of Justice to create a workload measurement system for judicial bodies. The benchmark is surpassing the module by more than 30% on average over the previous five years.
One possible explanation for the high litigiousness in the Canary Islands is the significant impact of tourism and the resulting influence of a large floating population. The President of the TSJ, Juan Luis Lorenzo Bragado, noted during the presentation of the annual report that the Archipelago’s 16 million international tourists represent 16% of the resident population. “As already highlighted in previous editions, this data should prompt a reassessment of the parameters on which the Justice Administration needs to be dimensioned; that is, we cannot focus solely on the population de jure, but also on the de facto population,” he stressed.
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