Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on efficiency measures of the Public Justice Service
Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on efficiency measures of the Public Justice Service, approved by the Parliament in the last plenary session of the Congress of Deputies on 19 December 2024 and published in the Spanish State Gazette on 3 January 2025, entails a profound modification of the justice administration in Spain.
The law establishes key measures that redesign the judicial workforce, promote digitalisation, further the Alternative Means of Dispute Resolution (MASC) and reconfigure procedural processes in all jurisdictional orders, contemplating a scaled implementation throughout 2025.
Organisational efficiency: a structural transformation of the justice system
The reform comprehensively covers the structure of the justice administration, highlighting the creation of Courts of Instance that replace the current courts and are configured as collective bodies.
These courts, integrated by specialised sections, will have differentiated competences in key areas, such as Family, Violence against Women, Commercial, Criminal or Minors, to guarantee more efficient management of the workload and judicial specialisation.
Among the most outstanding aspects of this reorganisation are:
- Courts of Instance: There will be a court in each judicial district, whose jurisdiction will cover all the competences currently distributed among courts. The sections may be sub-divided to deal with specific areas, such as Judicial Review or Employment, permitting specialisation in sub-matters such as sexual violence, child welfare or penitentiary surveillance.
- Offices of Justice in Municipalities: Magistrates’ Courts will be transformed into Offices of Justice, conceived as administrative units that will provide judicial services locally. These offices will have expanded powers, such as collaboration with the Civil Registry, mediation and management of requests relating to the justice administration.
- Redefinition of the Judicial Office: Judicial Offices will be reorganised in common processing services, adapted to the new structure of the Courts of Instance.
- Reforms in presidency and internal governance: Each Court of Instance will have a Presidency commissioned with coordinating and guaranteeing the correct functioning of the court. Likewise, the possibility of meetings of the boards of judges to unify interpretative criteria in substantially similar cases is regulated.
- Publicity of the distribution regulations: For the first time, the regulations governing the distribution of cases among magistrates will be public, promoting transparency and access to information.
Furthermore, cooperation among administrations with competences in justice is promoted to implement similar quality standards throughout the territory, through interadministrative agreements aimed at the development of joint projects, digitalisation and continuous improvement of the service.
Procedural efficiency
The procedural reform contained in Organic Law 1/2025 introduces multiple modifications in the different jurisdictional orders, highlighting measures aimed at streamlining procedures, avoiding undue delays and promoting an oral system.
Next, the most significant changes to criminal law are summarised:
- Electronic complaints: The possibility of filing complaints electronically for serious or violent crimes is restricted, demanding in-person attendance in cases involving violence, minors or witnesses.
- Procedural conformity: The scope of application of conformity without a hearing is expanded, eliminating imprisonment term limits in certain cases, which facilitates agreements between parties.
- Preliminary hearings: These hearings will enable preliminary matters to be resolved, such as annulments of evidence or admission of facts, avoiding suspensions during the oral hearing.
Means of Appropriate Dispute Resolution (MASC)
Another of the main new features introduced is the use of MASC as an essential tool to relieve pressure of the courts.
In this way, mediation, private conciliation and collaborative law are regulated as valid mechanisms in civil and commercial matters.
Criminal, employment and insolvency matters are excluded from this measure.
Among the most outstanding advances in this matter are:
- Requirement of admissibility: Before starting a lawsuit, the parties must have tried to resolve their dispute through one of the MASC, except in situations such as fundamental rights, gender violence or proceedings for the protection of minors.
- Confidentiality and binding nature: Agreements reached will be binding and may be judicially approved or put on public record to acquire enforceability.
Likewise, confidentiality in negotiation processes is established, determining that all documentation and the process are confidential, with some exceptions. The parties involved, their lawyers and any neutral person must keep professional secrecy and may not reveal information obtained during the negotiation, except in specific circumstances such as explicit consent of the parties, in challenges of costs, when so ordered by a judge in the criminal area, or for reasons of public order.
Technological Modernisation and Digitalisation
Another fundamental area is the digitalisation of the judicial system, which introduces electronic platforms for the management of files and processing of proceedings. These tools will enable the electronic filing of pleadings, real time access to procedural information and the remote consultation of files by citizens and lawyers.
Likewise, advanced protocols are established to guarantee data protection and digital security, covering risks such as technological gaps and cyber-attacks.
Impact on legal operators
The law also covers the system of acting and substitute judges, adapting it to European standards regarding economic independence and social protection.
Similarly, it redefines the competences of the lawyers of the Justice Administration, assigning them a key role in the technical management of the judicial offices and in the coordination of the MASC.
Effective date and transitional provisions
In general, Organic Law 1/2025 will become effective on 3 April 2025, although some provisions are applicable from 23 January, such as the incorporation of the Courts of Instance and the Justice Offices.
There are specific measures, such as those relating to sexual violence, that will be implemented gradually until October 2025.
- Draft Bill for the Organic Law on the Expansion and Strengthening of Judicial and Fiscal Careers
On 21 January 2025, the Council of Ministers approved the Draft Bill for the Organic Law on the Expansion and Strengthening of Judicial and Fiscal Careers, a reform that, in the words of the Minister for the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Félix Bolaños, represents an essential advance in the modernisation of the public justice service.
In this way, the reform is configured as the most profound modification of the Organic Law of the Judiciary and is part of a set of initiatives that, according to the Government, seeks to guarantee neutrality, improve efficiency and correct an alleged conservative bias in the judicial system.
Among its main measures, the draft bill grants legal status to the SERÉ Grants, allocated to candidates for Justice Administration bodies, with an amount equivalent to the minimum interprofessional salary and lasting for up to four years.
Likewise, it establishes a new framework for the Centre of Legal Studies, which will become a public centre with regional branches to facilitate access to the preparation of competitive examinations.
With regard to the selective processes, mechanisms are introduced such as anonymity in the correction of written exams and the replacement of a memory-based test for a practical case study designed to evaluate candidates’ legal reasoning.
Access to the judiciary for professionals with more than ten years’ experience is also increased through the so-called “fourth shift”, which will be made up of independent round competitive examinations.
The draft bill also envisages measures to reinforce specialisation in areas such as commercial law and gender violence, as well as the integration of substitute judges and interim public prosecutors in accordance with the recommendations of the European Council, removing certain incompatibilities that until now prevented them from working in other professional activities when they were not active.
On the other hand, it introduces a new model for the election of members of the General Council of the Judiciary Ethics Commission, which will comprise five members of the Judiciary, elected by its own members. and four selected by the Spanish Parliament from among professors of Ethics, Philosophy of Law or Moral Philosophy.
The election system of the Governing Chambers of the main courts is also modified, allowing individual candidatures, assigning a single vote to each voter, prohibiting delegated voting and incorporating the option of electronic voting.
The reform has generated great controversy in the judicial sector. Diverse sectors have expressed their concern about the impact that some of its provisions could have on judicial independence, the selection criteria of judges and public prosecutors and work-life balance.
In the same way, numerous judicial associations have shown their disagreement with certain aspects of the draft bill, warning about the risks it could entail for the configuration and functioning of the justice system.