On Jan. 3, ESP PRL published organic law on public justice service.
ESP PRL passed Organic Law 1/2025 on Jan. 2, 2025 on measures regarding efficiency of the public justice service, with correction of errors, published in official gazette.
Document dated Jan. 3, 2025, was added on Jan. 16, 2025 due to editorial backfill.
Context
Organic Law 6/1985 regulates justice service in line with Constitution of 1978 rules.
Save bodies whose powers extended to entire country, system established of courts of Justice of Peace, First Instance and Instruction, Contentious-Administrative, Social, Penitentiary Surveillance and Minors, Provincial Courts and High Courts of Justice.
Even if amended, changes barely modified structure of courts' organization, keeping territorial division from municipality, as basic element, to autonomous communities.
In addition, this organization has always been based on considering the courts, single-person bodies, first step in access to justice for citizens, transferring existence of the courts, as collegiate organization and prosecution entities, to provincial or higher level.
Nowadays traditional model of single-judge court has become obsolete, needs change.
As, inter alia, traditional judicial organization has led to series of dysfunctions in field.
E.g. lack of courts specialization; proliferation of bodies with identical competence in each judicial district with unnecessary dispersion of resources and effort; favouring of interim justice; inequalities in workload and in the time taken to resolve cases, etc.
Rationalization of model, search for efficiency suggest 1st level of judicial organization should operate in collegial way, as is also case in other judicial bodies.
Recalls model of Courts of First Instance is system of collegial organization that does not alter exercise of jurisdictional function or powers of single-person trial bodies.
If, as constitutionally established, justice emanates from the people, the law must promote and encourage the participation of citizens in the justice system.
As done in criminal field (jury), it is also convenient to open civil, social justice and immediately after, administrative litigation to citizens so they feel they are protagonists of own problems and assume in responsible way most appropriate solution to them.
Further reasons for the bill's adoption are provided in its presentation section.
Law Structure
Structured in two titles: first deals with organizational reform of the Administration of Justice in all its areas, via creation and constitution of Courts of First Instance and the evolution of Peace Courts into modern Offices of Justice in the municipalities.
It regulates, in a complementary way, conclusion of work of development and implementation of a Judicial Office adapted to the new judicial organization; details.
Title II has large block of reforms in line with changes by RDL 5/2023, RDL 6/2023.
Chapter I, in addition to jurisdiction itself, introduces other appropriate means to solve disputes via non-jurisdictional channels into legal system, does that as an essential measure for a sustainable public Justice service; more details on this provided.
The procedural reforms aimed at streamlining processing of judicial proceedings are included in Title II, Chapter II; among novelties: possibility that in field of verbal trials, judges can issue oral sentences to speed up and facilitate resolution of lawsuits.
The tool can be used by judge depending on specific circumstances of the case; oral sentences will be recorded on audiovisual support of the act and documented later.
Re enforcement, introduces changes to regulation of current process, possibility to suspend it to resort to mediation or another appropriate means of dispute resolution.
Various other important aspects of the law are presented, on very diverse matters.
The final part is structured into 8 additional provisions, 15 transitional provisions, 1 repealing provision and 38 final provisions; more details provided on each of these.
Law enters into force 3 months after official publication while Title I, 1st additional, 1st-8th transitional, 6th final provision will enter into force 20 days after publication.
Attribution of powers in matters of sexual violence to Courts of Violence against Women, art 1 section 28, amendments to art 14 of Criminal Procedure Act, art 20 section 1 Law 50/1981, art 2.h) Law 1/1996, will do so 9 months after publication.
A list of all amended and repealed provisions is found in analysis tab of published law.
Effectiveness
Law enters into force on Apr. 3, 2025.
Jan. 11, 2025 Correction Slip
On Jan. 11, 2025, ESP GVT published a correction slip in the official gazette.
Error noted on page 1043, 13th final provision, in amendment of Law 15/2003 on remuneration system of judicial, fiscal careers, Annex II.2, Destination supplement for members of judicial career, thus it is replaced via correction slip of Jan. 10, 2025.
Bill was registered at ESP PRL in Mar. 2024 and followed the urgency procedure that concluded on Dec. 19, 2024 with Congress approval of Senate amendments to the bill.
Regulators
ESP GVT; ESP PRL
Entity Types
CNSM; Corp
Reference
PR 1/13/2025; OG BOE-A-2025-461, 1/11/2025; OG BOE-A-2025-76, 1/3/2025; Organic Law 1/2025, 1/2/2025; Bill 121/000016; Citation: Organic Law 1/2025;
