Strike committee says “thousands of judicial proceedings” have been suspended, including a statement in the ‘Villarejo case’
The LAJ of the Supremo are fully added to the pause in full reactivation of the cause of the ‘process’
MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Associations of Lawyers of the Administration of Justice (LAJ) calling for the indefinite strike that began last Tuesday have indicated that the follow-up on this sixth day has been 75% and warns that “thousands of judicial proceedings” have been suspended. From the Ministry of Justice, however, they estimate participation at 20.63%.
In a statement issued this Tuesday, the three associations – the Progressive Union of Lawyers of the Justice Administration (UPSJ), the Independent Association of Lawyers (AinLAJ) and the Illustrious National College of Lawyers – ensure that the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, continues “without calling the strike committee” and “without caring about the damage that the conflict is causing to the citizens.”
On the sidelines, this Tuesday the LAJ of the Supreme Court have fully joined the strike and have called for the minister “or the parties that support the Government” to promote a “sincere and direct negotiation” with the LAJ associations.
The movement of the lawyers of the high court coincides with the reactivation of the cause of the ‘procés’, which is pending the appeals that the defenses of the fled independence supporters -among them the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont- presented against the judge’s decision Pablo Llarena to maintain his prosecution for the crime of disobedience and embezzlement after the penal reform.
This resurgence of the case, as a result of the new drafting of the Criminal Code that repeals sedition and modifies embezzlement, has given rise to a series of procedural movements –notifications and transfers of writings– that could now be affected by the strike of the LAJ, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press.
Since the stoppage began on January 24, the strike committee has estimated participation above 73%, data that it registered yesterday Monday. The rest of the days it has recorded a follow-up of between 75% and 81%.
In the Ministry, for its part, they registered the lowest participation data yesterday: 18.9%. In the previous conferences, he computed a follow-up of between 20.13% and 28.23%.
This Tuesday, from the strike committee they have assured that “thousands of trials and legal proceedings have been suspended throughout the country, which accumulate to those left without effect during the strike.”
As he has specified, in addition, since the indefinite stoppage began “between 120 and 160 million euros from judicial consignment accounts have stopped circulating” and “there have been 2.5 million fewer notifications than those corresponding to the same period of last year”.
Among the suspended acts there is a testimonial statement in the framework of that piece 9 of the ‘Villarejo case’ that is being investigated in the National Court. This is how an ordering procedure was collected, to which Europa Press has had access, in which it is explained that the appearance of an expert witness coincides with the strike to which the LAJ has joined to reinforce the court.
Within the framework of the communiqué, the associations have reported that the strike committee has met at the PP headquarters with the party’s Institutional Deputy Secretary, Esteban González Pons, the people’s deputy María Jesús Moros and the senator of the formation Fernando de Rosa to explain “the details of the conflict”. As they have pointed out, the leaders “have promised to support the LAJ body and to present the amendment to the down payment clause in the Senate.”
On the sidelines, they have also communicated that the elected members of the Secretariat Council have made their resignation effective due to the non-convening of the current Secretariat Council by the Secretary General of Justice “despite repeated requests.”
Lastly, in the communiqué they denounced having received an instruction –signed by the General Secretary of Justice Innovation, Manuel Olmedo– regarding the system of enjoying permits during strike days in the LAJ Corps.
For the associations, the text is “evidently unconstitutional” because, in their opinion, it limits the right of the LAJ “every time they are required to state in advance if they are going to strike or not.”
In the instruction, to which Europa Press has had access, Olmedo explains that the strike call “has been superimposed on the last days of the period in which vacation days and private matters corresponding to the year 2022 can be enjoyed.” And he points out that “given the uncertainty about the duration of the strike” it must be guaranteed that the right to enjoy said permits “is compatible with the exercise of the right to strike and the proper organization of the substitutions from.”
Thus, the secretary assures that “additional criteria must be established” to those established in the Instruction in which it is determined how the coverage of positions of court clerks is carried out through the substitution mechanism, “as well as the system of calling and appointment of substitutes in any of the modalities provided for in the organic regulations, with regard to the regime of substitutions”.
Olmedo agrees that “the enjoyment of vacation days or private matters corresponding to the year 2023 will not be authorized to the lawyers of the Administration of Justice on days when they must attend to signals.” According to him, “exceptionally” they may be granted “when there are duly justified personal circumstances, such as those related to reconciling work and family life, or making trips paid for prior to the issuance of this letter.”
Within the framework of the instruction, it also establishes how the substitution regime will be when a lawyer enjoys a permit or license. The substitution will fall on the lawyers –designated or not as minimum services– who do not exercise their right to strike and who “voluntarily” assume it or, failing that, on those who are not on strike and who in turn corresponds. “These substitutions will be subject to remuneration in accordance with the specific action plan.”
On the sixth day of the strike, it should be remembered that the conflict has its origin in “the lack of salary adaptation to the greater functions and responsibilities attributed by Law 13/2009, discharged to judges, and increased in successive reforms”, especially the of 2015, which –they denounce– has caused an “unbearable imbalance”.
The conveners point out as a “trigger” of the conflict the agreement that Justice signed in December 2021 with the unions of the general bodies “without properly developing the salary adjustment to the latest procedural reforms provided for in the second paragraph of Additional Provision 157 of the Law 11/2020 of the General State Budget for 2021”.
Before the strike began, Llop asked the organizers to flee from “maximalist positions” because they prevented “good agreements.” That same day, the Ministry sent a letter to the LAJ due to the “misinformation that apparently exists” about the actions carried out by the department “in the interest” of the body.
The Secretary General for Innovation recalled that the first measure, linked to the modification of the royal remuneration decrees to give effect to the union agreement adopted in December 2021, was approved in April 2022 and represented a retroactive increase. “The fullness of the effects will be reflected in the payroll for this month of January,” he specified.