How Spain's court map and court staffing are organized

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law sets the territory each court covers: the Supreme Court, the National Court and the central courts have jurisdiction over all of Spain; the High Courts of Justice (Tribunales Superiores de Justicia) over their Autonomous Community; and the Provincial Courts and most courts over their province.
2. The judicial districts (partidos judiciales), the basic territorial divisions where first-level courts sit, are redefined. 105 new districts are created, added to the existing 317, for a total of 422.
3. Each judicial district groups one or more municipalities and has its capital in a single municipality, which the Autonomous Community designates by law. Districts are named after that municipality.
4. The law sets how many judges and courts of each type there are: for example, 76 at the Supreme Court, 550 magistrates at the Provincial Courts and 1,884 first instance and examining courts in total.
5. The Government may create divisions, courts or magistrate positions beyond what the law provides, without changing the judicial map, taking mainly into account the volume of litigation in each area.
6. The current District Courts (Juzgados de Distrito) become first instance courts, examining courts, combined first instance and examining courts or, where applicable, peace courts, within one year.
7. The Labor Magistracies (Magistraturas de Trabajo) disappear and the Social Courts (Juzgados de lo Social) start operating on the same day the law takes effect.
8. The new court structure is rolled out in stages between 1989 and 1992, with economic programs prepared by the Government and carried out by the Ministry of Justice.

Who it affects

• Anyone who goes to court: It matters to know which court covers their municipality and province; the new organization seeks courts that are closer and better staffed.
• Judges, magistrates and court staff: Their postings change: District Courts are converted, Labor Magistracies disappear and staff are integrated into the new courts.
• Autonomous Communities and municipal councils: The Communities set the capital of each judicial district by law, and municipal councils help maintain the peace courts.
• The Government and the Ministry of Justice: They must prepare and carry out the economic programs to create the new courts between 1989 and 1992.

Words worth knowing

Partido judicial (judicial district)

A territory made up of one or more municipalities that groups the first-level courts for that area.

Demarcación judicial (judicial map)

How the territory is divided among the different courts, that is, which area belongs to each one.

Planta judicial (court structure)

The number and type of courts that exist, and the judge and magistrate positions assigned to each one.

Jurisdicción (jurisdiction)

The territory or matters a court can decide on.

Casación (cassation appeal)

A special, limited appeal used to unify how the law is interpreted, not to retry the case.

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