“The independence of the Prosecutor’s Office is not guaranteed at the present time.”

You have demanded that work on new courts of first instance in major cities be halted and postponed until after January 1, but the minister reiterates.

-It seems that no, there will be no stopping.

-What problems can it cause? There have already been imbalances where this has been implemented, in small and medium-sized jurisdictions, but now comes the crucial stage: the big cities.

Of course, now comes implementation in major capitals. We already notice that there are deficiencies and problems occurring in jurisdictions where it has already been implemented. If this happens in a small jurisdiction, in a large metropolis it can cause many problems. For this reason, a moratorium was requested to study the problems that were discovered and be able to provide solutions.

– The Justice Efficiency Act provides, among other things, that officials move from belonging to a single court to working in an office that provides service to all judges of the judicial district. What are the main imbalances discovered?

There are imbalances between officials, and there are problems in processing files for the official who is in charge of these files. It completely changes the paradigm, and there is no longer that relationship between the judge and the judicial office. All of this requires adjustments. Courts of first instance are a good idea, but, of course, only as long as it is done with sufficient resources to allow it to be implemented with safeguards.

Another major justice change the government is planning is a new criminal procedure code that, among other things, leaves the investigation of criminal cases in the hands of prosecutors. Do you agree that it should be this way?

We are not against the investigation conducted by the Public Prosecution, but as long as the independence of the Public Prosecution is guaranteed, this is not the case now. At this time, as the number of the Prosecutor’s Office is regulated and the government-appointed State Prosecutor is elected, without strengthening the independence of the Prosecutor’s Office, we believe that it is not appropriate to do so at this time. Until this independence is strengthened, we believe that it does not provide the same guarantees that an impartial investigating judge can provide.

– Regarding the Attorney General’s Office, for the first time the State Attorney General sits on the bench. Should Alvaro Garcia Ortiz have resigned?

-We said before that it is personal. The decision of whether he should resign was his responsibility and was a personal decision for the State Attorney. But there is no doubt that the image of the Prosecutor’s Office has been damaged.

In his speech, Bolaños ended by insisting on the independence of justice. But the government’s attacks on judges investigating cases that might affect the Socialist Workers’ Party or the president’s entourage are not helping.

Respect between state authorities and institutional respect is essential. This cannot be forgotten. Clearly, judicial rulings can be subject to criticism, and this is logical. But this does not mean referring to specific judges, specific persecutions, or specific judges with specific names and titles. Judicial decisions can be criticized, and resources exist to implement them when we disagree with a judicial decision. But institutional respect can never be lost sight of. Because there is a problem of trust between citizens towards their judges, towards justice. The citizen is the ultimate recipient of the vast majority of our decisions.

– Another source of contradiction. You ask the AJFV that the judges themselves elect the 12 judicial members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). But Bolaños just insisted that his appointment should continue from Las Cortes.

– Yes, we defend the direct election of the 12 judicial members according to the judicial track, according to a proportional system that guarantees pluralism in the General Council of the Judiciary. But not only do associations exist, but non-members also exist. Because we cannot forget that a very important part of the judicial profession is unrelated. All sensitivities must be met in the Council. It is not a matter of replacing the quotas of political parties with the quotas of judicial associations.

-What is the first folder you will have to open as a spokesperson?

– Among the first challenges we face on the horizon are, for example, those of the lower courts. We will be very attentive to see what happens with this implementation, because our colleagues are very concerned.