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What it is

Proposal to help legal professionals balance work and family

Admitted step 2 of 7 · Unfinished

It is a members’ bill. Introduced by parliamentary groups, the Senate, regional governments or citizens. It was introduced on 5 March 2020. Introduced by: Grupo Parlamentario Ciudadanos.

Official title: Private member's bill on guarantees for the work-life balance of Justice professionals.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 122/000046· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The bill would create two court vacation periods: one in summer (August) and one at Christmas (December 23 to January 6). During those periods, courts would only handle urgent criminal matters and other matters declared urgent.
  2. In civil cases, the bill would allow suspending proceedings for reasons such as hospitalization, serious illness or death of a family member, birth, adoption, or high-risk pregnancy of the lawyer or court clerk, for up to 90 days.
  3. In criminal cases, the grounds for suspending the oral trial would be expanded for the same family and health circumstances, and it would be made clear that they also apply to the Public Prosecutor.
  4. The same suspension guarantees would extend to administrative and labor court proceedings, referring to the grounds set out in the Civil Procedure Law.
  5. The suspensions would also apply to arbitrations and mediations where a lawyer takes part, and to cases already underway when the rule comes into force.
  6. The law would take effect the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette, except for measures with budget costs, which would wait until the following budget year.

Who it affects

  • Lawyers and court representatives (procuradores): They could suspend proceedings and hearings for maternity, paternity, illness, or family matters.
  • Judges and prosecutors: Similar work-life balance and hearing suspension guarantees would apply to them.
  • Judicial clerks (Letrados de la Administración de Justicia): They would be the ones approving many of the suspensions.
  • People involved in lawsuits: Hearings could be suspended and rescheduled, with rules to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Words worth knowing

Vistas
Hearings or trials where the parties present their arguments before the judge or court.
Letrado de la Administración de Justicia
A court official who manages the paperwork and procedure of cases, but is not a judge.
Turno de oficio
Free assignment of a lawyer by the professional association when a person cannot afford one.
Suspensión del proceso
A temporary pause in a court case, which resumes later.

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

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 2 of 7 steps. It reached Admitted, and today it is unfinished.

  1. Introduced5 March 2020Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted10 March 2020The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsnot reachedGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeenot reachedA committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenarynot reachedAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senatenot reachedThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEnot reachedIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 6 official steps on a timeline
Dec 2020Dec 2021Dec 202211. 5 March 2020: Presentación22. 10 March 2020: Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales Publicación desde 10/03/2020 hasta 13/03/202033. 10 March 2020: Calificación44. 13 March 2020: Gobierno Contestación desde 13/03/2020 hasta 16/05/202055. 16 May 2020: Pleno Toma en consideración desde 16/05/2020 hasta 30/05/202366. 30 May 2023: Concluido - (Caducado) desde 30/05/2023 hasta 16/06/2023

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

What happens next

What happens now?

The legislature ended before it finished. To go on, someone would have to introduce it again in the new Cortes.

It has not been presented again yet.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

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