The Bar Association denounces the "chaos" of Balearic Justice: "The judicial reform has been implemented without the necessary resources"
Lawyers warn of delays of up to four years, staff shortages, technological incidents and legal uncertainty arising from the application of the Efficiency Law
PalmaThe Illustrious Bar Association (ICAIB) has expressed "extreme concern" about the way the implementation of the new judicial organization model provided for in Law 1/2025 on measures regarding the efficiency of the Public Justice Service is being carried out. According to the Governing Board of the entity, the replacement of single-judge courts by the new Courts of Instance is being developed without the necessary human and material resources, which is exacerbating the structural problems already suffered by the Justice Administration of the Balearic Islands.
The collegiate governing body assures that the staff shortage, both of judges and processing and management officials, causes new delays in practically all jurisdictions, especially in the civil sphere. These delays are considered "unacceptable" because they distance citizens from access to agile and effective judicial response, as enshrined in the Constitution. Although lawyers do not question the objectives of the so-called Efficiency Law or the organizational model chosen by the legislator, they believe that a reform of this magnitude should have been preceded by adequate planning, real reinforcement of staff, and a consensus process with the professionals who work daily in the courts. Instead, they criticize the haste and what they call an "imposing method," which, they claim, has generated more problems than solutions.
The ICAIB emphasizes that the current situation is not the responsibility of the legal operators or the staff of the Public Prosecutor's Office, who are making an extraordinary effort to minimize difficulties. However, they warn that the dysfunctions go far beyond the initial inconveniences inherent in any reform. As they explain, constant suspensions and postponements have become commonplace, while some proceedings are already scheduled for three or four years from now. Furthermore, they denounce that there are fully processed cases that have been waiting for more than a year for a judgment.
The situation, they add, is particularly serious in the Balearic Islands due to the difficulties generated by the high cost of housing. The Governing Board considers that housing prices hinder the arrival and retention of officials assigned to the Public Prosecutor's Office in the Islands, leading to high staff turnover and preventing adequate reinforcement of teams. This reality, they assure, contributes to maintaining a structural deficit that further complicates any internal reorganization process.
Lawyers also warn of deficiencies in the attention given to professionals and citizens in the courts. As they explain, the disappearance of a unified management channel makes it difficult to track files and prevents easy knowledge of the status of each procedure. Recurring technological incidents and interoperability problems between computer systems add to this issue, which continue to slow down the ordinary functioning of judicial bodies.
On the other hand, the ICAIB expresses concern about the effects of the procedural requirement also introduced by Law 1/2025, in force since April 3. This obligation requires proof of a prior attempt at out-of-court resolution of the conflict before filing a lawsuit in civil and commercial jurisdictions. According to the Bar Association, the worst predictions about this measure have been confirmed. The absence of homogeneous criteria for proving compliance with the requirement generates different interpretations among courts and judicial districts, with the consequent increase in legal uncertainty. The entity warns that this disparity of criteria may lead to the inadmissibility of lawsuits for formal reasons related to the justification of the prior negotiation attempt.
Furthermore, far from reducing the workload of the courts, lawyers argue that the new requirement causes "double litigation," arising from appeals and proceedings filed against decisions of inadmissibility of lawsuits. Faced with this situation, the Governing Board of the ICAIB calls on the competent administrations for urgent action to strengthen the human and material resources of Justice and to correct the dysfunctions detected in the implementation of the new judicial model.