The full House of Representatives yesterday gave vent to a series of draft legal texts, including two of the most talked about reforms the Ministry of Justice, the past that needed to be adopted.
Mission accomplished. The Ministry of Justice has managed to get ahead in the parliamentary process all the reforms proposed. The latter are definitely approved yesterday at a sitting of Congress gave the green light to a battery of reforms in different ministries.
Justice Minister defended in the House the two projects that modify the Criminal Procedure Act, one for the streamlining of criminal justice and the other to strengthen procedural guarantees and regulation of technological research measures and the reform of the Code of Civil Procedure, that its flagship measures includes the ambitious goal of ending the paper in court from January 1, 2016.
Criminal Procedure
Among the most controversial reform of the Law of Criminal Procedure (CPP) issues is to limit the judges instruction deadlines, with an ordinary six-month period in simple cases and 18 in the complex, and the possibility to extend it to 36 months.
In the parliamentary procedure was approved that the prosecution will not be the only party that can apply for extensions to these deadlines, and Congress created the obligation to protect the image, honor and privacy of the detainees at the time you practice your arrest and subsequent transfers, a measure that, after receiving heavy criticism, was nuanced in its passage through the Senate.
The text also replaces the term charged with investigating, in a first phase, and if the prosecution indicted as the investigation proceeds is maintained. The reform also provides important new measures of technological research, adapting to the new realities of the digital age.
During the debate in Congress, the opposition criticized the “lack of courage” not to include the reform of the LEC the final award of the instruction to prosecutors, a move that text itself contemplated former Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, but Catalá decided to leave out before the rush of the end of term.
As for the reform of the Code of Civil Procedure, the text requires both professionals and the courts are obliged to use electronic media in written submissions and documents, and changes were made in the payment procedures and regulation the oral proceedings.
Enters into force the Law on the Judiciary
Yesterday took effect another major project of the legislature: reform of the Organic Law of Judicial Power. The text aims to expedite justice, improve the distribution of the workload between courts and allow greater specialization of judges, just as has defended the minister Rafael Catala.
The reform has immediate effects on issues such as the renaming of court clerks, who from now on are now called lawyers of the Justice Administration and includes other measures such as eliminating the direct responsibility of judges and magistrates, who It shall be assimilated to that of other government employees.
a major change is also introduced into the appeal, eliminating the minimum threshold of 600,000 euros that the law provided to appeal to the Supreme Court in the administrative jurisdiction, and replaced by the concept of appellate interest.
Reforms adopted by the Congress of Deputies
– In processing the reform of the Code of Civil Procedure (LEC) has introduced an important novelty for lawyers: their heirs may not claim fees paid after your death.
– The reform of the LEC seeks the implementation of the use of information and communications technology in different judicial procedures and processes, with the aim of ‘paperless’ in court.
– The Law of Criminal Procedure (CPP), which will enter into force two months after its publication in the Official Gazette, impose deadlines for instructing judges and court replaces the term ‘accused’ by ‘investigation’ or ‘prosecuted’.
– The new criminal procedure is also macrocausas avoid the rule of connectedness, which favors the division into different parts, thus reducing training times.
– A second criminal court that will allow superior courts review judgments handed down by provincial courts and the High Court will have a Board of Appeal that will address those dictated by this court are also created.
– Other changes affect the crowded no author, no longer generate the opening of judicial proceedings, and to increase seizure.
– There is also news about the incommunicado detention, as judges must justify in a car, and detained incommunicado contemplated that these will undergo two medical examinations every 24 hours.
– In technology research, the figure of undercover on the Internet, you can use fake identity is introduced. The interception of communications that now affect Whatsapp, SMS and environmental hear expands.
– Another reform approved in Congress yesterday was the proposal to amend the statute of the Constitutional Court, for the enforcement of decisions of the Constitutional Court to guarantee the rule of law, which now goes to the Senate.
– On the other hand, the draft Law on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector received the accolade necessary for final approval.
– They got the green light also draft Organic Law of the Military Penal Code and reform the Military Career Act.
