How the personnel of the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) is organized

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1. The law brings together in a single text the personnel rules of the Civil Guard Corps: ranks, staffing, training, promotions, assignments, administrative statuses, rights and duties. Civil Guards are career military and must swear or promise to defend Spain before the flag.
2. The Civil Guard depends on the Ministry of the Interior for its functions and on the Ministry of Defense for military missions. In time of war or state of siege it will depend exclusively on Defense.
3. The Corps is organized into six scales, including two new ones: the Facultative Higher Scale and the Facultative Technical Scale, meant for highly specialized areas and open to university graduates. The status of civil guard is acquired upon obtaining the first rank, conferred by the King.
4. Civil Guard training is structured into basic training, further training and advanced professional studies. Entry is by public call through competition, examination or a combined system, under the principles of equality, merit, ability and publicity.
5. Promotions go to the next higher rank when a vacancy occurs and can be by seniority, competition-examination, selection or choice, depending on the rank. Anyone declared unfit or held back definitively faces limits on holding certain assignments.
6. The law sets administrative statuses and exit rules: reserve and retirement by age, voluntary leave of absence (including up to three years for child care), and loss of civil guard status by resignation, loss of Spanish nationality, conviction or final disciplinary sanction.
7. It facilitates the full integration of women in the Corps: different physical tests based on physiological differences, no restriction on holding any assignment, and reassignment of duties during pregnancy without losing the assignment.
8. It creates the Personnel Advisory Council, where civil guards can submit proposals and suggestions about their personnel rules and social matters. They also have the right of petition, can file complaints, and can go directly to the Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo).

Who it affects

• Civil guards and students at their training centers: Regulates their entire career: ranks, promotions, assignments, administrative statuses, rights and duties.
• People who want to join the Civil Guard: Sets the requirements, entry tests and selection systems for its training centers.
• Female civil guards and applicants: Provides adapted physical tests and duty changes during pregnancy without losing the assignment.
• Ministries of Defense and the Interior: They share the powers over the Corps' personnel.

Words worth knowing

Escala (scale)

Group of ranks within the Corps with the same professional duties and the same level of education required to enter.

Escalafón (seniority roster)

Ordering of all civil guards by scale, rank and seniority, which decides the order for promotion.

Situación administrativa (administrative status)

Each of the positions a civil guard can hold: active service, leave of absence, reserve, retirement, etc.

Derechos pasivos (pension rights)

Pensions and benefits paid after leaving service, such as retirement.

Concurso-oposición (competition-examination)

Selection system combining the assessment of merits (competition) with passing tests (examination).

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