The association Judges and Judges for Democracy (JJpD) expresses its criticism of the draft project to reform the Organic Law of the Judiciary proposed by the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños. The Government is urged to take advantage of the reform to unify the categories of magistrate and judge in the judicial career in order to provide greater stability in judicial positions and better service to the citizenry.
For its part, the Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM), the Judicial Association Francisco de Vitoria (AJFV), and the Independent Judicial Forum (FJI) have also criticized this draft project in the days prior. The JJpD proposes changes to the "forced" transfer of members of the career when they are promoted from judges to magistrates, as this can imply reconciliation problems, especially for women, who are the majority in the profession.
Edmundo Rodríguez, spokesperson for the JJpD, mentioned that the promotion from judge to magistrate often leads to unwanted changes of position, increasing transfer rates and less desirable positions. This situation, according to the association, harms the service to the citizenry, to legal professionals, and to society in general, also affecting the personal and family development of the judiciary.
The automatic unification of the categories of judges to magistrates, which involves forced changes of position, is described as an anachronistic and harmful system for work-life balance. These measures, introduced in the draft project of the Organic Law of the Judiciary, have been subject to criticism not only by the JJpD but also by other judicial associations such as the AJFV.
Finally, the AJFV has addressed the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, to express its allegations against Bolaños's draft project, highlighting the problematic nature of the automatic unification of categories and the mandatory transfers.
