More judges and prosecutors for an overwhelmed Justice system: the Government approves 700 new positions

The Government has approved this Tuesday the creation of 700 new positions for judges and prosecutors to try to alleviate a Justice system that suffers from delays, very high workloads, and increasingly visible public distrust. The Council of Ministers has given the green light to two royal decrees: one to incorporate 500 judges and magistrates and another to add 200 prosecutors.

The Minister Félix Bolaños has presented the measure as a “historic milestone” and the largest expansion of the judicial system in democracy. The number of judges will grow by 8.5%, while that of the Public Prosecutor's Office will increase by 7.13%. The minister maintains that the objective is for citizens to receive resolutions in shorter periods and for judges and magistrates to work with more reasonable workloads.

Of the 500 judicial positions, 368 will go to instance courts and 96 to collegiate bodies. The distribution includes 76 positions for Provincial Courts, nine for High Courts of Justice, seven for the Supreme Court, and four for the National Court. There will also be 34 territorial assignment positions, movable according to workloads, and two for the Central Instance Court.

The reinforcement arrives with courts under pressure

The expansion is based on the Law on the Efficiency of the Public Justice Service, which has replaced the old single-judge courts with instance courts with a common judicial office. According to Justice, this change allows for the creation of a judicial position for about 100,000 euros, compared to the much higher cost of opening a complete traditional court.

The calendar will be gradual. The first judges and magistrates will arrive at their destinations on December 31, 2026. A second batch will join on June 1, 2027, and the third block will take office on November 1, 2027, as requested by the General Council of the Judiciary.

The measure comes amid a struggle for judicial reinforcements. The CGPJ has asked the Ministry to reconsider its refusal to finance support in courts specializing in floor clauses, warning that 12,470 cases could be suspended or unresolved in the second half of the year. The Valencian Community, Madrid, and Barcelona would be the most affected territories.

In parallel, the 200 new prosecutor positions will reinforce sensitive areas such as Violence against Women, hate crimes and discrimination, human trafficking, immigration, international criminal cooperation, and cybercrime. A position for a Chief Prosecutor responsible for the Data Protection Unit is also created.

Andalusia, Catalonia, Madrid, and the Valencian Community will be the communities with the most new judicial positions in absolute terms. By percentage, Murcia and the Canary Islands stand out, with an expansion of 11%. In the prosecutorial career, the greatest reinforcements will also go to Andalusia, Catalonia, and Madrid.

Bolaños tries to sell management and modernization at a complicated time for Justice. The backlog is still there, the CGPJ maintains its demands, and the new judges will not reach their destination until the end of the year.