BOE today, July 13, 2026: Treasury auction, new officials and competitive examinations

The creation of new judicial units in Spain (new courts, sections, or positions) follows a fairly stable scheme: first, the increase in the court system is planned and proposed (CGPJ, Ministry, and autonomous communities), then the Government approves the creation by royal decree, and later the Ministry sets the effective date of operation by ministerial order. The timelines are not fixed by law, but practice shows that several months or even years may pass between each phase. The following explains the usual procedures and times systematically.

1. Planning and proposal phase

The basic framework is in the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ), which establishes that the court system will be set by law and reviewed at least every five years, based on workload, population, and other parameters, after a report from the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), and that autonomous communities with justice competencies may request a review of the system. The LOPJ also regulates the judicial districting, which is established by law or, in certain cases, by royal decree, with participation of the autonomous communities, proposal from the Ministry of Justice, and report from the CGPJ.

Additionally, the LOPJ foresees that the creation of sections and judicial positions that do not alter the districting corresponds to the Government, after hearing the affected autonomous community and the CGPJ (articles on districting and creation of sections included in the LOPJ).

In practice, this planning phase relies on:

• Workload reports and the CGPJ Inspection Service, such as those cited in the preamble of Royal Decree 954/2022, which justifies the creation of seventy judicial units due to litigation and structural needs.
• The CGPJ–Ministry Agreement on workload measurement system, published by Order JUS/1415/2018, which serves as a technical basis to identify where new units are needed.
• Proposals and communications from autonomous communities with justice competencies, which must be “in a position to fulfill their legal and statutory obligations” to assume new courts, as detailed in Royal Decree 902/2017 or Royal Decree 256/2019.

Indicative timelines: this preparatory phase (reports, negotiation with autonomous communities, design of annual unit programming) usually takes several months to more than a year before reaching the royal decree of creation.

2. State regulatory phase: royal decree of creation

The formal creation of judicial units is done by royal decree of the Government, under Law 38/1988 on Districting and Court System, and the LOPJ. Recent examples include:

• Royal Decree 902/2017, creating ninety-three courts and positions.
• Royal Decree 256/2019, creating seventy-five judicial units.
• Royal Decree 954/2022, creating seventy judicial units and adjusting the court system.

These royal decrees follow a common pattern:

• They rely on articles 20 and 21 of Law 38/1988, modifying the annexes of the court system (courts, courts of appeal, etc.).
• They expressly declare that they have been informed by the CGPJ and the affected autonomous communities.
• They include a final provision that refers to a subsequent ministerial order to set the effective date of the positions and the start of operation of the courts. For example, the third final provision of Royal Decree 256/2019 establishes that these dates “will be set by the Minister of Justice, after hearing the General Council of the Judiciary, and published in the BOE”.

The royal decree usually comes into force the day after its publication in the BOE, but this only means that the judicial unit is created in the system; it does not imply it is already open to the public.

Indicative timelines: from when the Ministry closes the “programming” and submits the proposal to the Council of Ministers until the publication of the royal decree usually takes a few months, conditioned by the political and budgetary calendar.

3. Implementation phase: orders of commencement of operation

Once the unit is created in the system, the key step remains: setting when it actually starts providing service. This is done by ministerial order from the Ministry of Justice (or the competent ministry at the time), which sets the “start of operation” of the court or the “effectiveness” of magistrate positions.

The technique is very clear in recent orders:

• Order JUS/623/2022 sets the start date of six courts corresponding to the 2020 and 2021 programming, “in accordance” with the final provision of the creation royal decrees.
• Order JUS/511/2023 sets the start date of fourteen courts from the 2022 programming, also referring to Royal Decree 954/2022.
• Order JUS/737/2020 does the same for courts from the 2019 programming and modifies previous orders to adjust dates.

These orders set a specific opening day (for example, “from September 1, 2023”) and usually stagger the start of operation when many units are created in the same year, depending on budget availability and material and personnel resources.

Indicative timelines: recent practice shows that between the royal decree of creation and the order of commencement of operation may pass:

• In the best case, a few months, when there is budget availability and infrastructures are ready.
• Often, between one and two years, as reflected in the 2019–2022 programmings, where several courts created in one year start operation in the following two or even three years.

4. Summary of usual procedures and times

Summarizing the typical process for a new judicial unit:

• Technical planning (CGPJ, Ministry, autonomous communities, workload studies): several months to more than a year.
• Creation in the system by royal decree, approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the BOE: months from closing the programming; effective from the day after publication.
• Effective start-up by ministerial order setting the start date, once personnel (job offers, transfer contests) and material resources are provided: from a few months to several years after the royal decree, depending on budget and organizational availability.

In practice, the complete cycle from detecting the need until the new court opens its doors can range, very approximately, between about one year in very agile scenarios and more than three years in contexts of budget restrictions or organizational complexity.

According to the located normative information, there is no specific and detailed regulation of the functions of the Senior Corps of Civil Administrators of the State as a singular body; rather, its functional regime is integrated into the general state public function regulations and the organization of the General State Administration. Therefore, the functions of its members are defined in terms of the tasks assigned to the senior corps of the Administration and the positions they occupy (management, coordination, administration, advising, etc.). The following describes these functions in a “general framework” key, based on the current basic legislation and other related norms found in the Official State Gazette.

1. Applicable general regulatory framework

The performance of Civil Administrators of the State is framed within the basic regulations on administrative organization and public function, among which stand out:

• Law 40/2015, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, which regulates the organization and functioning of the General State Administration and its institutional public sector (Law 40/2015), with related references such as the consolidated text of the Bankruptcy Law, the repealed Law 6/1997 on the organization of the AGE (Law 6/1997), the Foundations Law (Law 50/2002), the Local Regime Law (Law 7/1985), the development of electronic access (RD 1671/2009), the State Agencies Law (Law 28/2006), Law 15/2014 on rationalization of the public sector (Law 15/2014) or the consolidated text of the local regime (RDL 781/1986).
• Law 39/2015, on Common Administrative Procedure, which establishes how administrative bodies must act in their relations with citizens (Law 39/2015) and repeals or adapts previous legislation on procedure and electronic administration (Law 11/2007, RD 772/1999, RD 1398/1993, RD 429/1993, Law 30/1992, Law 2/2011).
• Law 3/2015, regulating the exercise of senior positions, which sets duties and ethical limits for those holding senior positions in the General State Administration (Law 3/2015) and its regulatory development (RD 1208/2018).
• Basic Statute of the Public Employee, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015 (RDL 5/2015), which is the general framework for all public employees and defines functions, duties, rights, and career of career civil servants of senior corps.

Additionally, the functioning of the public sector where these officials work is affected by norms such as the Public Sector Contracts Law (Law 9/2017), budget laws (Law 39/2010 and its connection with the EBEP and RDL 14/2010), resolutions of the General Mutuality of Civil Servants (2026 resolution, 2022 resolution, 2011 resolution, resolution on Digital Health History, 2003 resolution, 1985 resolution, 1984 resolution), as well as multiple royal decrees and orders on the organization of ministries, collegiate bodies, and public agencies (for example RD 776/2011, RD 192/2018, RD 802/2014, RD 1142/2012, RD 451/2012, RD 464/2011, RD 565/1985, RD 2491/1996, RD 7/1997).

2. General functions of the senior corps of the AGE

Based on this general normative framework, it can be summarized that members of the senior corps of the General State Administration — including the Senior Corps of Civil Administrators of the State — generally perform the following functions:

• Administrative management and coordination: they hold positions such as head of area, service, deputy general director, and other technical or managerial responsibilities, within the organization designed by Law 40/2015. They are responsible for organizing teams, coordinating units, and ensuring the execution of entrusted public policies.
• Development and management of public policies: they participate in the preparation of regulations, sectoral plans and programs, as well as their monitoring and evaluation, within the common administrative procedure regulated by Law 39/2015.
• Resource management: they handle economic, budgetary, and contractual management of units (application of the Contracts Law, expenditure control, human resources planning), acting as contracting bodies or members of contracting committees (as reflected, for example, in the resolution on contracting committees).
• Legal-administrative and technical advising: they issue reports, resolution proposals, and opinions in administrative files, including sanctioning powers, subsidies, contracting, administrative appeals, etc., all according to Law 39/2015 and the corresponding sectoral regulations.
• Inter-administrative and institutional relations: they participate in collegiate coordination bodies (for example, those created or abolished and ordered by norms such as RD 776/2011 or the creation of the Open Government Forum by Order HFP/134/2018), as well as in relations with autonomous communities, local entities, and international organizations.
• Transparency, integrity, and good governance: when holding senior positions, they are subject to the obligations of Law 3/2015 regarding conflicts of interest, incompatibilities, and accountability.

3. Areas of action and lack of specific regulation

The normative search has not yielded a specific and updated statute of the Senior Corps of Civil Administrators of the State that singularly details its functions; many historical personnel norms affect the “Civil Administration of the State” in general (for example, Order of March 7, 1989, Order of March 10, 1988, Decree 3143/1971, Order of December 30, 1978, Order of 1973, Order of 1970), but they do not specify the concrete tasks of this senior corps currently. No further specific information is available in the consulted sources, so the functional description must necessarily be made in the key of a “generalist senior corps” of the AGE, under the umbrella of the EBEP, Law 39/2015, and Law 40/2015.

Consequently, today the real function of Civil Administrators of the State is mainly determined by the positions they occupy in the job relations of undersecretariats, general directorates, autonomous agencies, and public entities, and by the set of general norms (public employee statute, legal regime, procedure, contracting, budgets, etc.) that regulate the actions of the General State Administration and its personnel.

The located documentation also includes numerous sectoral, budgetary, university, European, or international norms (all accessible in the BOE: Law 19/2011, Order ECE/637/2019, Order APU/198/2004, study plans, RD 1630/1993, Council decision 1995, convention 1989, ZEC resolution, state collective agreement, RD 1584/2011, RD 1085/2020, RD 1582/2011, RD 1661/2000, RD 1912/2000, Order HAP/2478/2013, Political Science degree resolution, Order PRE/3783/2003, University of Murcia resolution, University of Cantabria resolution, University Francisco de Vitoria resolution, European Parliament decision 2002, EC/Denmark-Faroe Islands decision, Agio Group resolution, Totalfina resolution, University Ramón Llull resolution, University Miguel Hernández resolution, Order June 24, 1971, Law 47/1971, TS ruling 2021, RD 634/2013, RD 1563/1995, Order PRE/1476/2006, RD 1055/2002, University Ramón Llull resolution 2002, UCM resolution, ESADE resolution, RD 434/2002, 1988 Order correction, RD 2664/1986, Order April 22, 1971, Order on seniority 1971, LO 4/1987, LO 14/2015, LOPJ, LO 8/2011, LO 7/1992, LO 4/2013, LO 19/2003, LO 5/2011, LO 4/1992, LO 5/1995, Law 17/1980, correction STC 226/1993, Order August 31, 1990, Regulation 3172/89, Resolution May 13, 1988, Civil Aircraft Agreement, Regulation 2276/86, Decision 3712/85/ECSC, Resolution September 9, 1985, Austria Convention, Air Navigation Services Agreement, Resolution May 13, 1985, Iberia-Panama Note Exchange, correction RD 278/1986, Statute of Elderly Centers, RD 482/1985, correction Mining Statute, Order January 11, 1984, correction Order September 29, 1978, rectification decision 94/900/CEE, Regulation No. 14, Order access Auxiliary Corps 1985, error correction 1985, correction RD 1654/1985, adhesion instrument STCW, STC 190/2023, STC 189/2023, STC 149/2023, STC 106/2019, Political Science and Public Management study plan), but none directly define the specific functions of Civil Administrators of the State as a body.

The available information does not allow for a precise detailing of the specific and current legal requirements to access the Judicial and Prosecutorial Career (open competition). In particular, there is no updated list of nationality, degree, age, or incompatibility conditions, nor a transcription of the applicable regulations. However, it is possible to systematically explain how these requirements are normally structured in Spain and, above all, where the official regulation and the calls that specify them should be consulted.

General structure of access requirements by competitive examination

In access by competitive examination to the senior state bodies, legal requirements are usually articulated in two main blocks: on one hand, the general requirements that all candidates to any similar selection process must meet (legal capacity, absence of certain convictions, etc.); on the other hand, the specific requirements of each body or career (in this case, Judicial and Prosecutorial), which respond to their particular statute and the demands of independence and impartiality.

These requirements are not exhausted in the basic law regulating the judiciary or the public prosecutor's office, but are specified in development norms and, especially practically, in each competitive examination call published in the corresponding official bulletin. It is in that call where the conditions to be met on the determined date (usually the deadline for submitting applications) are set in a closed manner.

General access requirements: usual approach

In state competitive examinations for senior legal bodies, references to several types of requirements are usually included systematically, although the consulted sources do not provide the exact content currently applicable to the Judicial and Prosecutorial Careers. Generally, the categories handled in processes of this nature include, among others:

• Personal and capacity conditions: aspects related to full legal capacity and, if applicable, absence of disqualifications for public function performance are assessed.
• Previous legal conditions: it is common to foresee limitations related to criminal records or sanctions that may affect the performance of jurisdictional functions or the public prosecutor's office.
• Educational requirements: access calls to legal bodies usually require a certain level of university studies, although no specific reference applicable to these careers is available here.
• Compatibility with other situations: public function regulations usually contemplate the need not to be involved in causes of incompatibility or prohibition to access positions of jurisdictional or prosecutorial nature.

These general criteria offer a conceptual framework but do not replace reading the specific regulations nor the concrete call of each competitive examination, which has direct legal value for the candidate.

Specific regulations and their location

Access to the Judicial and Prosecutorial Career is regulated in laws and complementary provisions that develop their professional statute. However, the consulted sources do not provide the concrete content nor precisely identify the applicable provisions on admission requirements by competitive examination. Therefore, it is not possible here to indicate articles, sections, or enumerate specific requirements with legal rigor.

Given this lack of detail in the available information, the appropriate way to know the updated legal requirements is as follows:

• Consult the current text of the laws regulating the organization of the judiciary and the public prosecutor's office, as published in the Official State Gazette.
• Review the bases of the latest competitive examination call for access to the Judicial and Prosecutorial Career, also published in the Official State Gazette, where the requirements demanded in that process are detailed in a closed manner.
• Refer to the institutional information offered by the competent bodies (for example, the justice administration and the governing bodies of the judiciary or the public prosecutor's office), which usually provide guides or orientation summaries about access.

Practical recommendation for the candidate

Since requirements may change over time (due to legal reforms or call adjustments), relying on unofficial summaries or outdated information carries an evident risk. The only legally secure reference is always:

• The current wording of the organic laws and their development regulations, according to the Official State Gazette.
• The bases of the specific call in which one intends to participate, where it is precisely set what is required, on what date each requirement must be met, and what supporting documentation must be submitted.

In the absence of more precise information in the available sources, the most prudent option for anyone wishing to access the Judicial and Prosecutorial Career is to go directly to these official texts and, in case of interpretative doubt, request guidance from the justice administration information services or entities specialized in preparing these competitive examinations.