BOE today, July 2nd: Justice offers positions to hundreds of applicants and sets new tests for Penitentiary Institutions

To modify the internal promotion system in the Administration of Justice, it is necessary, in practice, to process a parliamentary initiative with the rank of law that adapts the applicable legal framework. The specific type of regulation (organic law, ordinary law, or even regulatory development) will depend on which aspects are to be changed and which regulation currently governs them. This reform can be initiated either by the Government (bill) or by parliamentary groups or other bodies with legislative initiative (private member's bill). The procedure takes place in two Chambers, Congress and Senate, with phases of amendments, committee, commission, and plenary sessions until its final approval.

1. Type of regulation to be modified

The internal promotion system in the Administration of Justice is usually structured through regulations with the rank of law (and, in some aspects, regulations), because it affects:

a) Conditions of access and professional career: access requirements, the structure of the bodies, promotion systems, and changes of body or scale are usually set by law. To alter them generally, the approval of a new law or the reform of the existing one is necessary.

b) Regulatory development: once the basic criteria are set by law (principles of merit and ability, types of tests, main lines of the internal promotion system), the operational details (calls, specific scoring systems, syllabi, etc.) can be developed through regulatory norms approved by the Government or the competent body.

Consequently, the reform of the system is not exhausted in a simple regulatory change: to introduce stable structural modifications, a change of law is required, and subsequently its deployment through development regulations.

2. Initiatives that can lead to the reform

According to the available information on the different parliamentary figures:

a) Bill (Government): the Government can approve in the Council of Ministers a bill to reform the internal promotion system and submit it to Congress. This is the most common route when the reform is linked to a global personnel policy or agreements with unions.

b) Private member's bill: these can be presented by parliamentary groups or deputies, the Senate itself, regional assemblies, or, in some cases, popular legislative initiative. The processing is analogous to that of a bill; if approved, it becomes law and can modify the internal promotion system exactly like a Government initiative.

c) Non-legislative motion (PNL): groups can register PNLs to urge the Government to reform internal promotion. However, the PNL has no normative force: it does not create, modify, or repeal laws, and its possible approval has no binding legal effects. It serves as a mechanism for political impetus or pressure but does not replace legislative reform.

3. Main phases in Congress and Senate

Once the initiative (bill or private member's bill) is presented, the parliamentary path is, in simplified form, as follows:

a) Admission and consideration: bills are admitted directly for processing. Private member's bills require an initial vote of "consideration" in the Plenary of Congress, where the Chamber decides whether or not to open the processing of that reform.

b) Amendments and committee: groups register amendments to the articles, which can deeply modify the design of internal promotion (requirements, tests, quotas, etc.). A committee – appointed within the competent commission – drafts a report integrating, accepting, or rejecting those amendments.

c) Commission and Plenary of Congress: the commission debates the committee report and can introduce additional changes. Subsequently, the text goes to the Plenary for its final debate and approval by simple majority (unless, due to content, a reinforced majority is required). The approved text is sent to the Senate.

d) Processing in the Senate: the Senate can approve the text without changes, present amendments, or propose a veto. If it introduces amendments, the bill returns to Congress, which decides whether to accept or reject them. If the Senate issues a veto, Congress can override it by a subsequent vote.

e) Final approval and application: once the double control of Congress and Senate is passed, the law is sent for sanction and publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE). From there, the Government or competent body develops the necessary regulatory norms so that the new internal promotion system is applicable in practice.

4. Margins of regulation and political negotiation

Within this process, the fine definition of the internal promotion model is decided on two levels. On the political-parliamentary level, the majorities formed around the reform project (Government and its supporters, or other combinations) will determine whether the system is oriented towards more positions by internal promotion, changes in scoring systems, flexibilization of requirements, etc., through amendments and agreements in committee and commission. On the regulatory level, once the law is approved, the margin of detail (structure of exercises, exact weighting of experience, call calendars) is specified through regulations, where negotiation with trade unions and actors in the Justice sector remains key.

The Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes (MPJRyC) is not the general governing body of the State civil service — a role that corresponds to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function — but it does have broad competencies in public employment regarding its own personnel and the personnel of the Administration of Justice within its scope. These functions are mainly regulated in Royal Decree 204/2024, of February 27, which develops its basic organic structure. In practice, human resources management is concentrated in the Undersecretariat and, under it, in the General Directorate of Services, while in Justice the competencies over job position relations (RPT) and organization of the Judicial Office stand out. All this is exercised in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Public Function of the ministry competent in state public function.

Regulatory framework and institutional position

The basic framework is set out in Royal Decree 204/2024, of February 27, which develops the basic organic structure of the MPJRyC, modifying the previous Royal Decree 1012/2022, according to transparency and regulatory information available at BOE-A-2024-20060, in the Ministry's profile (Ministry structure) and in the regulations published at transparencia.gob.es. This royal decree positions the MPJRyC as a department with its own competencies over its personnel and, in the Justice area, over much of the personnel serving the Administration of Justice, but the general public function policy (state public employment offer, basic statute, major public employment reforms) is articulated from the Secretariat of State and the General Secretariat of Public Function attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, as noted by public function analyses available at Iberley.

Internal public employment competencies of the Ministry

Within the MPJRyC, the competencies in personnel and public employment are structured as follows:

1. Undersecretariat of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes The Undersecretariat, described on the ministry's electronic headquarters (Undersecretariat of the Presidency), directs and coordinates the common services of the Department and exercises, in personnel matters:

– Planning and management of human resources of the Ministry itself, including the preparation and proposal of its job position relations (RPT). – Call and resolution of general and specific contests for the provision of posts of civil servants and labor personnel of the department, something reflected in contest resolutions published in the BOE, such as the Resolution of June 21, 2024 (general contest) and the Resolution of June 21, 2024 (specific contest). – Appointment and dismissal of certain freely appointed positions, as well as the formalization of contracts for high management labor personnel, according to the delegations contained in the royal decree of structure and internal delegation regulations.

2. General Directorate of Services Dependent on the Undersecretariat, the General Directorate of Services assumes, by delegation, specific personnel management competencies: call, provision, appointment, and dismissal of freely appointed positions dependent on the Undersecretariat and other management centers, except some of the highest level, as provided in Royal Decree 204/2024 and development regulations (referenced at MPJRyC functions).

Public employment competencies in the Justice area

In the Justice area, the MPJRyC has specific responsibilities over personnel serving the Administration of Justice, especially in non-transferred territory:

– Job position relations (RPT) of Justice personnel: the Resolution of July 21, 2025 approves the RPT of Government Secretariats in non-transferred territory and explicitly states it is issued “by virtue of the competencies attributed in article 3.2.e) of Royal Decree 204/2024”. This shows that the MPJRyC is competent to approve RPTs of Justice personnel within its scope. – Organization of the Judicial Office and common services: resolutions such as that of March 5, 2025 on the design of the Judicial Office (BOE-A-2025-22908) and Instruction 1/2025 of the General Secretariat of the Administration of Justice on coordination of the Judicial Office (BOE-A-2025-13195) are based on Ministry competencies to order posts, functions, and hierarchical dependence of Justice personnel. – Management and supervision of specific bodies such as the Body of Lawyers of the Administration of Justice, whose organic dependence on the Ministry is recalled in resolutions and agreements pointing to state competence in the ordering of their job positions and functions.

Selection processes and Ministry public employment portal

The MPJRyC also exercises operational competencies in:

– Calls and management of selection processes for its own personnel and for Justice personnel within its scope, channeled through the public employment section of the Ministry (MPJRyC public employment and selection processes), as well as the Justice public employment portal (Justice public employment). – Application of the remuneration policy and collective bargaining within the Ministry itself, in coherence with the framework agreements of the state public function. – Coordination with the General Secretariat of the Public Function in the general contests of the General State Administration affecting department posts, whose bases are approved centrally.

In summary, the MPJRyC directly manages the public employment of its organization and Justice personnel under its competence (RPT, contests, selection processes, organization of the Judicial Office), while the major lines of the state public function are set in the ministry specialized in Public Function. More functional detail can be found in the department's function profiles in transparency (MPJRyC functions) and in the already cited structure regulations.

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To access a freely appointed position in the General State Administration (AGE), it is generally necessary to be a career civil servant, meet the requirements of the position set out in the Job Position Relation (RPT) and in the call, and pass a provision procedure with a public call, although the final choice is discretionary. The appointed person must belong to the required body/scale and subgroup, have the appropriate qualification, be in an administrative situation that allows the performance of the position, and comply with the incompatibility regime. The appointment and dismissal are discretionary but must be adopted by the competent body, respect the principles of equality, merit, and ability, and be motivated. On this basic framework, the particularities established by the internal regulations of each Ministry are added.

1. Basic regulations governing free appointment

The general regime is supported, first, on the Spanish Constitution (arts. 23 and 103), which requires equality, merit, and ability in access and promotion to public employment, and prohibits arbitrariness. In development of these principles, the Revised Text of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee (TREBEP, Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015) regulates the classes of personnel, access principles, and systems of provision of posts (including free appointment). It is complemented by state legislation on public function and organization (Laws 39/2015 and 40/2015, rules on RPT and provision of posts) and incompatibility regulations (Law 53/1984 and its regulatory development).

2. Nature of freely appointed positions

Freely appointed positions are posts included in the AGE RPT for which this provision system is expressly foreseen. Their use must be exceptional and justified by the functions of management, special responsibility, or trust they imply, according to court doctrine. It is not a system of access from outside the Administration, but a provision system among civil servants, in which, after the public call, the competent authority chooses discretionally the candidate considered most suitable.

3. Who can be appointed

3.1. General rule

The general rule in the AGE is that only career civil servants who:

• Meet the position requirements indicated in the RPT (body/scale, subgroup, specialty, level, etc.).
• Fulfill the additional requirements of the call (for example, minimum seniority, certain training or experience merits).

As a rule, these positions are not filled with interim civil servants, labor personnel, or temporary staff. Temporary staff are governed by a different regime (trust appointment, outside the civil service provision system), and labor personnel have their own mobility systems.

3.2. Qualification and body/scale

The basic qualification is accredited through the body or scale of belonging (for example, subgroup A1 requires a university degree or equivalent). The RPT may also require specific qualifications (Law, Economics, Engineering, etc.) or complementary training. These requirements must be expressly stated and respect the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

4. Administrative situation and incompatibilities

The appointed person must be in an administrative situation that allows the effective performance of the position: normally active service, or re-entry from leave or other situations, according to public function rules. A person suspended from duties, disqualified, or in any situation that legally prevents the exercise of the position cannot be appointed. Additionally, they must comply with the Incompatibility Law: declare their activities, cease those incompatible, and, if applicable, request authorization for compatibility for permitted activities. The existence of an unsolvable incompatibility prevents occupying the position.

5. Procedure: publicity, choice, and motivation

Although called "free" appointment, in the AGE the filling of these positions requires a public call. This is published in the corresponding bulletins and electronic headquarters and identifies the position (RPT code, unit, location, level, remuneration) and participation requirements. Interested civil servants submit their application, and the Administration assesses the suitability of candidates, without a rigid scoring system as in contests, but with discretionary appreciation.

The appointment is made by the competent body (usually Minister, Secretary of State, Undersecretary, or general director, depending on the structure) through a formal administrative act. This act must be motivated, at least in terms of suitability and adequacy to the position, to allow judicial control and exclude arbitrariness. Taking office within the deadline produces dismissal from the original position (or loss of its reservation) and the start of performance of the new position.

6. Dismissal and legal limits

The distinctive feature of these positions is free removal: the civil servant can be dismissed discretionally, without the need for disciplinary proceedings, but through an equally motivated act (loss of trust, reorganization, etc.). After dismissal, the civil servant retains their status and moves to their reserved position or a provisional assignment. Both appointment and dismissal are appealable in administrative and contentious-administrative proceedings; courts control compliance with the law, motivation, absence of discrimination, and non-existence of abuse of power.