More judges, courts, and settlement agreements to overcome the "collapse" in the Balearic Islands
The president of the TSJIB and the chief prosecutor are confident that the new Efficiency Law will create more judge positions and note progress in the future courts of Palma, Ibiza, Manacor, and Ciutadella.
PalmThe Balearic Islands will have more judges and courts in the medium term to deal with the constant increase in the number of cases, which in the last year has exceeded 200,000 for the first time. The increased decision-making capacity of the 143 judges and magistrates currently serving on the islands, at a rate of 1,332 cases per person, has gradually helped, as the 190,549 cases resolved in 2024 are still below the number of cases received by the courts.
The president of the Superior Court (TSJIB), Gabriel Oliver, said this morning in Mahón that he hopes to "convince" the Ministry to create more positions on the islands where, according to his calculations, 43 judges are needed to be able to respond diligently to the demand being registered. The senior prosecutor, Julio Cano, also calls for more representatives from the Public Prosecutor's Office, "especially in Palma and Inca," but nothing is guaranteed.
The solution, according to both officials, may lie in the new Efficiency Law, which promotes a new organizational structure and allows for the creation of judge positions without them being necessarily tied to the creation of any new court and the eight civil servants who serve it, as is currently the case. "Only the judge's salary will have to be paid, not that of the civil servants, which is currently the bottleneck, and which will surely lead to the creation of more positions," Gómez predicted.
"The cost is cheaper and budget availability will thus be greater," added Cano, who advocated for prosecutors to be able to take on the investigation of cases, which would be "a true revolution" that would be more in line with current reality, since "small judicial districts like Ciutadella" are not the only ones that are under investigation.
"A margin of confidence"
The chief prosecutor defended the settlement agreements as a "useful and necessary tool to avoid the current collapse" and, like the president of the TSJIB, called for educational action to overcome the "distorted and biased view" of the justice system that is sometimes conveyed.
Carlos Gómez was especially clear in asking citizens for "the gift of trust," since, he said, "judges are independent and impartial people." He also proclaimed that the presumption of innocence must be respected by not publicly condemning anyone at the beginning of the criminal process or creating "public debates and parallel trials" that foster a sterile "spectacularization" of the justice system.
Regarding infrastructure, Gómez has announced that progress is about to be made on the creation of the future court headquarters in Palma, Ibiza, Ciutadella, and Manacor, starting this last quarter of the year.
According to information provided by the president of the TSJIB, the partial urban development plan for the Son Pardo land purchased from Sareb will be put out to tender in the next three months. This will allow the concentration of Palma's judicial bodies and bring order to the current dispersion.
A similar goal is being sought in Ibiza, where before the end of the year, the reserve area will be put out to construction, allowing all the bodies to be reorganized in a single building, including those currently located in the Cetis building.
Work on the new courts in Manacor is also close to starting. After the first call for proposals was declared void, the 30% increase in the construction budget, up to €20.3 million, convinced 13 construction companies, who submitted bids. The Ministry expects to award the contract next November. The completion period will be 18 months.
Finally, Carlos Gómez referred to the "delicate" situation in the Ciutadella court district, where the current lack of permanent judges requires travel from Mahon and the approval of a service commission so that any judge from other parts of Spain can lend a helping hand with the remaining rulings.
The future Ciutadella court building, which has been promised for two decades, is also a long time coming, but according to the president of the TSJIB (High Court of Justice), it is already in its final stages. The project has been approved and supervised by Ministry technicians, who expect to put the works out to tender between the end of this year and the first quarter of 2026.
The prosecutor calls for a "comprehensive welcome" for migrants.
The serious migration phenomenon affecting the Balearic Islands and the already "consolidated" route from Algiers was also present in the interventions of the highest officials of the administration of justice in the islands, especially the chief prosecutor. Julio Cano expressed his support for providing migrants with "comprehensive care. Spain's response cannot be solely criminal law and placing them in a center, but rather caring for these people, especially minors, and ensuring they can have the most normal life possible."
Similarly, the president of the High Court personally called for "orderly and regulated immigration, for the benefit of all," since the Immigration Law leaves judges no room to go further.