Judicial reform to save money and use fewer substitute judges

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law wants almost all court rulings to be issued by career judges, with substitute judges and standby magistrates used only exceptionally.
2. To cover absences and vacancies in multi-member courts, a calling order is set: first volunteer career judges, then territorially assigned judges and others, and only last, if budget allows, non-career standby magistrates.
3. In single-judge courts, annual substitution plans are created for judges who volunteer, with schedules and rotations that avoid overlapping hearings. Judges' assemblies draft the plans and the General Council of the Judiciary (Consejo General del Poder Judicial) approves them.
4. The Judicial School will have three phases: theory, supervised internships, and a period in which trainee judges perform substitutions and reinforcements. Each phase must be passed to move to the next.
5. Approved applicants without a post are renamed from jueces adjuntos to jueces en expectativa de destino (judges awaiting assignment), and they take priority over substitute judges in call-ups.
6. Professional substitutions will be paid, at 80% of the destination allowance of the court being substituted. Vacation, leave and sick pay rules for judges and court staff are also revised.

Who it affects

• Judges and magistrates: They can do paid voluntary substitutions and reinforcements, and their vacation, leave and sick pay rules change.
• Judge applicants: Their training at the Judicial School now has three phases, and those without a post become judges awaiting assignment.
• Substitute judges and standby magistrates: They will be called only exceptionally and if there is budget.
• Court staff of the Administration of Justice: Their vacation, leave and sick pay are adjusted, and the December 2012 extra pay is suspended.
• The general public: Court rulings will almost always be issued by professional judges.

Words worth knowing

Magistrado suplente

A retired judge or person outside the judicial career called to complete panels in multi-member courts.

Juez sustituto

A person not permanently in the judicial career who temporarily covers a judge's absence or vacancy.

Comisión de servicios

A temporary assignment by which a judge performs duties in another court without leaving their own.

Órganos unipersonales

Courts with a single judge, as opposed to multi-member collegiate courts.

Señalamientos

Trials and hearings already scheduled on a court's calendar.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries