The Ministry of Justice is studying a change in the operation of violence against women courts that has irritated the bar associations of Catalonia.
The department proposes that ten first instance courts in the area of ??Barcelona and Tarragona stop taking on cases of sexist violence so that these are centralized by the courts specialized in violence against women that are located in the regional capitals or in the capitals. of judicial party. They assure that this would improve efficiency and care for victims, since they are bodies that handle these cases exclusively. However, the Consell de l’Advocacia Catalana, which includes all Catalan bar associations, denounces that this measure would mean that victims would take longer to reach a court to ratify a complaint, which could cause them to end up backing out. .
“We are not making this proposal from an economic point of view, but rather with the aim of improving care for victims. It is timely to open this debate. The laws of organizational efficiency are going here, and we cannot be left behind. We have to do the analysis and put it on the table,” say sources from the department. They also remember that this measure has already been applied in other communities such as Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Navarra and Valencia, and that the entire system is heading towards centralization and specialization.
The proposal being studied by Justícia, and which cannot be presented to the ministry because the legislature is exhausted, consists of all causes of sexist violence, for example, in Gavà, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Cornellà and El Prat, being assumed solely by the Gavà court. Or that the Granollers court – which brings together 35 municipalities – absorbs all the activity of sexist violence also from the Mollet del Vallès court, which is competent in seven municipalities. The Tarragona court, for its part, would take over the cases from the Valls court. And so on in up to ten courts.
The department defends the measure because then cases of sexist violence “would be treated by exclusive courts, trained people and appropriate centers that guarantee that victim and aggressor do not cross paths in the hallway.” This situation does not occur in mixed courts, where cases of all types are mixed, from investigation, civil litigation and domestic violence. “They are judged with zero specialization and with a brutal workload,” department sources point out. They emphasize that the measure would allow these more saturated courts to be relieved in favor of sexist violence courts whose workloads “are below the limits set by the General Council of the Judiciary,” they maintain.
The study proposal was born in December within the framework of the meeting of the Catalan Justice Observatory, which had not met since 2014. The participants agreed to open a debate to analyze the centralization of gender violence courts and also an eventual reform of the judicial map of Catalonia. From there, a commission was created to analyze centralization or, as they call it, “the regionalization of the courts.” The deadline for each of the parties to rule on the Justícia proposal and present their analysis ends on April 30.
The legal profession has issued a devastating report to oppose the measure in which they regret mobility difficulties as the main argument. They report that the distance that victims of sexist violence must travel to report their partners or ex-partners is so great that many will give up.
“This proposal goes against the spirit of service that justice should have. Instead of bringing justice closer to citizens, they want to distance it, with the aggravating factor that in this case those harmed are people who very often suffer from a situation of extreme fragility,” laments the president of the Consell de l’Advocacia Catalana, Marta Martinez. “He is nonsense,” denounces Esther López, president of the Consell’s Sexist Violence commission.
He ensures that access to justice must be facilitated and obstacles not created. “They are vulnerable people, who sometimes have to travel with their children and witnesses,” he remarks. David Caselles, president of the Commission on Relations with the Administration of Justice of the Consell, highlights that “care for a victim of gender violence requires special dedication, protection orders must be requested… In the end, these procedures can last between four or five hours. Gender violence courts cannot take on more workloads. “The idea is not good.”
The Department of Justice responds to criticism from lawyers regarding the mobility of victims by highlighting that statements by videoconference should be prioritized to avoid travel and so that victims can appear in court close to home. And regarding workloads, they ensure that the necessary means would be provided. “If more resources have to be provided, they will be provided,” they maintain.
The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia will meet this Friday to adopt a position on this proposal.
