Bill would reform Spain's judiciary law: leave, vacations and Council elections

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would restore rights cut during the economic crisis for judges, prosecutors and court staff: extra vacation days for seniority and the eighteen days of personal leave. It would also set paternity leave at four weeks.
2. It would change how the twelve judicial members of the General Council of the Judiciary are chosen: active judges and magistrates would elect them directly by personal, secret ballot, instead of parliamentary groups.
3. It would add limits and controls for Council members: a maximum of two consecutive terms, full-time dedication, asset declarations, and public hearings for candidates before appointment.
4. It would regulate court president positions with five-year terms renewable only once, and require holders of those posts to declare their assets and financial holdings.
5. It would improve court staffing: create a Human Resources Commission to coordinate the central government and the autonomous communities, regulate temporary civil servants, and reserve thirty percent of public job openings for internal promotion.
6. It would push digital justice: courts and prosecutors' offices would have to use electronic means, a single online notice board would be created, and the record of judgments would be generated automatically by computer systems.

Who it affects

• Judges and magistrates: They would recover vacation and leave rights and directly elect the Council's judicial members.
• Prosecutors, court clerks and court staff: They would recover pre-crisis leave and see new rules on access, internal promotion and pay.
• General Council of the Judiciary (Consejo General del Poder Judicial): Its composition, term limits and internal workings would change.
• People who go to court: They would deal with the courts through electronic means when procedural rules require it.

Words worth knowing

Consejo General del Poder Judicial

The body that governs judges in Spain, for example by appointing them to posts.

Vocal

Each of the twenty members of the General Council of the Judiciary.

Orden jurisdiccional

Each branch of the courts: civil, criminal, administrative and labor.

Edictos

Public notices issued by courts, for example to summon someone to a trial.

Promoción interna

A system letting a civil servant move up to a higher corps through a competition, without an open exam.

It summarizes the text passed by the Senado. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries