The two immediate minor crimes courts in Barcelona that are in charge of trying pickpockets for the thefts they commit are at their maximum capacity and the risk of overflow is ever higher. The situation is so worrisome that, if not remedied, crimes may become statute-barred before being tried. This is what the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) warns in a document to which La Vanguardia has had access and which has been forwarded to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). In the letter, signed by the government secretary of the TSJC, it is requested to consolidate the second guard court in the face of the increase in petty crime and warns of the risk that the crimes expire before they are tried.
“With the current rate of referrals (of trials) it is predicted that the agenda of the second court on duty will be full at the end of this year with the risk that the agenda of the first court will not only begin to be delayed considerably but they can come to prescribe the crimes pending to be pointed out”, he affirms.
The Mossos d’Esquadra and the Urban Guard, every time they arrest a pickpocket, if the amount of the theft does not exceed 400 euros, they cite him directly for an immediate minor crime trial – previously known as misdemeanor trials – because appear before the judge in a matter of a few days, at least a week. The aim is for the trial to be held immediately, a sentence handed down on the same day – usually a fine – and the accused can pay it almost at the same time.
However, what the law provides is far from reality. The accumulation of cases is so great that the two courts in charge of them are at their limit to absorb such a demand for cases. According to police sources, the Mossos cite the pickpockets eight months in advance, for August this year, although since it is more incompetent the trial would take place in September, so in reality there is a nine month delay. Minor crimes have a one-year statute of limitations, so there is a risk that if the term to try them is extended even further, they could become statute-barred before reaching trial, which would create a situation of impunity .
At present, the data indicate that thefts have been increasing without reaching the figures of 2019, the year before the pandemic. In Barcelona, ??from January to September 2023, 64,831 thefts were committed, which is equivalent to 258 thefts every day, according to the data collected in the crime balance of the Ministry of the Interior. This represents an increase of 10.6% compared to the previous year. In 2019, the last reference year, there were 84,258 thefts recorded in the same period, an average of 308 per day.
Trials for minor crimes are held every day in the City of Justice. There are two courtrooms and judges hold 24 trials a day in each courtroom, a total of 48 per day. Before the pandemic, judges with a larger staff of civil servants were handling 60 trials a day between the two courts. Most of these hearings take place without the accused present. The law allows them to do so since the crime they are charged with carries a sentence of less than two years, and the accused is exempt from going there.
All the judicial machinery is ready to make the judgment, draw up the sentence and notify it. However, despite handling 48 cases every day, the time between when the pickpocket is cited and when the trial is made is getting longer and longer. Proof of this is that in October it was mentioned seven months ahead, for May. Due to the increase in crime in the city, the number of trials for minor crimes that were held almost doubled. The turning point was the second semester of 2022. From then on, the lawsuits against pickpockets did not stop growing. It will go from 600 trials per month in 2022 to 1,100 in 2023, the maximum of its capacity and almost double what it was a year ago, according to the data collected by the TSJC.
To date, in Barcelona, ??despite the large number of thefts that are committed every day, there is only one permanent guard court that is in charge of judging minor crimes and there is another reinforcement that was authorized in 2022 after a shutdown during the pandemic. However, all legal operators demand that this court be consolidated as a permanent and definitive structure. The request is unanimous. The magistrate dean of Barcelona, ??the Secretariat of Provincial Coordination, the Superior Prosecutor’s Office of Catalonia, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia and the Illustrious Bar Association of Barcelona have sent favorable reports to the CGPJ so that it can be established “as a permanent structure” a second guard court for minor crimes “in view of the current data on the volume of reports that do not allow to anticipate a reduction in cases in the future”. Legal operators are clear that thefts, far from decreasing, will continue to be committed at least at the same rate as at present and a suitable body is needed to respond. At the moment, while this claim is expected to take effect, they have requested that it be extended for at least another six months: from June to December of this year.
