Most judicial organs in the capital of Tenerife are overwhelmed with work; some courts are already scheduling proceedings for 2027. Regarding infrastructure, the problem is “very pressing.”
How would you describe the current situation of the courts in the capital?
It is chilling. The judicial organs are bearing an overburden above the established modules. Courts of first instance or civil are operating at over 150% and 180%; the same applies to social courts, with an impressive workload that is already affecting the health of those within the judiciary. The contentious administrative courts are facing the same issues with immigration matters and are already scheduling proceedings for 2027; the courts dealing with violence against women deserve a separate chapter. And regarding infrastructure, the problem is very pressing.
How many judicial organs would be necessary to address the workload?
It is a structural situation, not a temporary one. Judicial organs are lacking, and the new design of the judicial office requires new judicial units. This will require an increase in personnel, covering the three common services: general, processing, and execution. However, it is the judges who lead and resolve procedural and sentencing matters, and many judicial units are needed. This year, the creation of a civil court, a social court, and a contentious court was approved, but there won’t be a third court for violence against women, which is urgent.
You were one of the critical voices against the regionalisation of gender violence courts. Has time vindicated you?
I have been a judge dealing with violence against women, and I believe I was right, even though the Department of Justice insists otherwise. There has always been the excuse of specialisation for judges, which is good, but the proximity of the court to the victim is fundamental, and regionalisation has distanced justice from the victims’ residences. The law states that if the victim’s residence is not the same as where the court is located, the Autonomous Community must provide means for transportation, and to my knowledge, this is not being done. So, please set aside a budget for this. Additionally, the volume of work is enormous because Santa Cruz de Tenerife deals with violence cases from the municipality, La Laguna, and Güímar. These are not courts of immediate response; they operate with hours from nine to two in the afternoon, although judges, prosecutors, and staff extend their working day. But if the aim of regionalisation was to specialise judges, why aren’t guard services established? What happens, after five in the evening or on weekends, is specialisation no longer important? It is an artificial policy. Judges are specialised, but if they want to regionalise courts, they need to provide resources. It cannot be that all reforms in justice come at no cost.
The president of the TSJC and you describe the situation of the violence against women courts in Santa Cruz as “shameful”. What needs to be done to resolve this situation?
Invest money, as always. But we also need to take an interest and take seriously the conditions in which these courts operate. We cannot respect the victims’ right to privacy, especially when they come with minor children, and we only have one room no bigger than this office to accommodate them for interviews with their lawyers. There is no nearby bathroom or water dispenser. We try to put temporary measures in place, but when there are many victims, some are moved to a small room downstairs that scarcely fits two people, creating the risk of crossing paths with alleged aggressors. When they go to testify, they do so in an office next to other victims recounting the tragedies of their lives, or alongside an aggressor from another case. We have no multipurpose rooms; we have absolutely nothing. We reported this to the General Directorate of Justice, and the response has been silence. It’s July 22, and on October 1, the reform goes into effect, granting more competencies, such as sexual violence, but nothing has been done here.
The Auditorio Building was acquired in January 2024 to alleviate the dispersion of venues. What is blocking its opening?
It is striking that it has been 1 year and 7 months and they are still in the stage of contracting and examining bidders. What have they done all this time? What interest have they taken to ensure that Santa Cruz de Tenerife has decent venues? And this is not the definitive solution. From the Cabo Llanos Platform, we proposed three phases of action: urgent action in the violence against women courts, which should have been done yesterday; medium term, the Auditorio Building; and long term, the City of Justice. However, the long term is becoming infinite because if the regional minister says that “neither in two, four, nor five years” will it be ready, let’s assume it will take ten years, but we are stalled on all demands.
Let’s talk about the long-awaited City of Justice in Cabo Llanos. It has been discussed for over fifteen years, and not a stone has been moved. What consequences does this have for the development of judicial work and for citizens?
It undermines trust in the justice system for citizens. Allow me the jest, the citizens of this municipality will be fit because they will have to navigate the city for anything related to justice. Now each person knows which court their case is handled in, but come December 31, with the new judicial office coming into effect and the implementation of common services, as we are segmenting now, just wait and see where they will place each common service. Citizens will need to know not only which service their case falls under but also in which building their subsection is located. For lawyers, the same applies. Many cases will be postponed because one procedure is scheduled in one building and another in a different building. It will be an ineffective and low-quality justice system. Where there is no infrastructure, judicial organs cannot be created because, unless the administration has lost its mind, the first question asked is whether there is space to establish a new organ or judicial unit, and if not, it is impossible.
As a member of the Cabo Llanos Platform, what do you demand from the regional administration to unblock the City of Justice?
We reactivated the platform at the beginning of June and requested a meeting with the minister. We proposed transparency, information, and agility. But above all, we demand a genuine interest from the administration in this matter because it is hard to believe that we have heard nothing about what has been proposed. I have become so accustomed to the lack of communication with the administration that I now accept it as normal.
How do you think the current map of dispersed infrastructures in the capital, the lack of judicial organs, and other issues will influence the implementation of the judicial efficiency law and the courts of first instance?
It is an adventure. First, it will depend on the financial resources allocated and then on the information provided to specific legal operators. The new judicial offices are like enlightened despotism, everything for the people but without the people, as the judicial office is for the judge but without the judge. Now the large offices will be directed by lawyers and divided into teams. We will have to get used to a new way of working. With our current map of infrastructures, it will be very difficult. Imagine all the justice officials from Santa Cruz spread across three large offices. Where will they be located? Where is the work that needs to be done? There will not be a common service as such, but micro-units, and the operability of that… The administration will need to do a good job of signage and maps to explain to citizens where they need to go at each phase of their procedure.
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