The PSOE has reproached the PP for having now registered a proposal for a law to reduce the training period for new judges which, according to the socialists, the Government had already promoted earlier, and has lamented that "Justice comes late to those who must serve it," referring to the recent eviction of Maricarmen Abascal.
In the Plenary of Congress this Tuesday, socialist deputy Raúl Díaz pointed out that the initiative of the popular party reproduces what the Executive had already included "in the bill to strengthen the judicial and fiscal careers" promoted by the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, to which the PP opposed.
"You amend it so that it disappears and come to us today and copy the same text," Díaz reproached from the podium. "Here only your own coherence fails," insisted the PSOE parliamentarian.
Díaz detailed that the aim of his group is "to fill as soon as possible the positions and vacancies in the courts of first instance" and, to achieve this, proposes "to eliminate the substitution and reinforcement phase in the judicial school" and that "the theoretical or practical training be simultaneous to the tutored practices."
The socialist emphasized that there is "little novelty" in the PP's proposal, which defends an intensive model of at least nine months of theoretical-practical training, compatible with tutored practices in judicial bodies and that would replace the current substitution and reinforcement stage.
Public training and access to the judiciary
In the debate, Díaz questioned whether the advance in the arrival of judges to the courts is of any use "if then justice comes late to those who must serve it" and "if later we arrive late to respond to an 80-year-old woman," referring to Maricarmen, whose eviction has triggered protests in various cities and a camp at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid in defense of the right to housing.
For Sumar, the focus of the discussion should be on "who manages to overcome" the opposition of the judiciary and on the conditions of preparation prior to access to the judicial school.
"Today a person finishes law school and, if they want to be a judge, they have ahead of them on average four or five years studying for an exam, and there formal equality begins to clash with reality," highlighted Sumar deputy Verónica Martínez Barbero.
The coalition emphasizes that it is a priority to ensure that "people from humble and working families can reach judges," which is why it defends that "public training should be part of the very access process."
Martínez has also warned that "justice has enormous power and, precisely for that reason, its limits also matter." In his opinion, "when the courts seek to intervene in political disputes, condition democratic decisions, or pursue what does not correspond to be pursued judicially, we have a problem that goes far beyond a single ruling."
"Justice does not need shortcuts" and lack of resources
From Podemos, the deputy Martina Valverde has defended that "justice does not need shortcuts, it needs resources, time, and guarantees," and has warned that one cannot "solve the lack of resources in justice by placing more tasks on those who are already sustaining the system."
In a line similar to the PSOE's diagnosis, the ERC deputy Pilar Vallugera has admitted that what the PP proposes "is nothing strange, nor is it anything different from what has already been proposed."
Vallugera has announced that Esquerra will abstain because, although the proposal "is not any barbarity," she considers that "it is ridiculous concerning the structural problem" of the Administration of Justice.
The republican representative has emphasized that "the investment made both in material resources and in human resources for judges and prosecutors is insufficient."
The PP demands more judges and to accelerate their incorporation
In defense of the initiative, the deputy secretary of Institutional Regeneration of the PP, Cuca Gamarra, has emphasized that "more judges are needed" and has explained that the proposal seeks to "correct some of the problems created by the disastrous Efficiency Law" promoted by Bolaños.
Gamarra has specified that the purpose of the reform is "to optimize the development of the training process for future judges" and has maintained that, with these changes, "a greater coverage of judicial positions would be achieved, guaranteeing, of course, the appropriate training."
According to the PP deputy, with the new scheme "the incorporation period for new judges to the courts of first instance could be reduced by up to nine months," compared to the 17 months of "minimum duration" that currently apply.
The Vox deputy Juan José Aizcorbe has supported the initiative considering that it is essential that "the new judges arrive well and soon," and has advanced that his group will vote in favor, although he has specified that "the legislative modifications that the PP has left unresolved" must be completed.
In the same vein, the Junts deputy Josep Pagès has valued that "streamlining and compacting the selection process, reinforcing the practices, changing the successive phases for a continuous evaluation" seems to him "a good idea."