MADRID – The strike of the lawyers in Spain continues. On Friday, a meeting between the conflicting parties ended without agreement. The indefinite strike of the lawyers has already lasted for a month.
However, a new date has been set for the next meeting. On Monday at 4.00 pm, the strike committee of the lawyers and the Ministry of Justice led by Pilar Llop will continue to talk. The strike of the lawyers for an indefinite period has lasted exactly one month. They are striking because they want better salaries and an income that compensates for the enormously increased workload. Furthermore, they demand 85% of the salary judges receive.
El Economista writes that after applying the 2001 State Pact for Justice, which was implemented nine years later, the lawyers assure that their positions have increased by 70%. That would be because they took on positions that they had inherited from judges. These include the recognition of lawsuits, the signalling of processes, the decision of a payment procedure or the enforcement of criminal decisions.
Related: Chaos in the Spanish justice system due to strike lawyers
Leaving the meeting room, Luis Toribio, spokesman for the strike committee, positively assessed today’s meeting. He did indicate that there is still a considerable distance to bridge between the positions of the judges and those of the ministry.
According to calculations by the organising associations, the strike has already led to the suspension of 210,000 hearings and lawsuits. This is accompanied by a blockage of €560 million.
Third meeting needed
Before the second meeting at the ministry this Friday, Ernesto Casado, president of the national board of lawyers, assured that he arrived at the meeting “hopefully”. He also said he already knew that a third meeting would be necessary. Europa Press quotes: “We hope that a meeting of a technical nature will be held (…) and that this will form the basis for future meetings because I suppose it will not be finally resolved today,” he said.
Along with Casado, around thirty judges clad in robes held banners and supported the strike committee that arrived at the ministry. The previous meeting, now a week ago, ended after more than 15 hours of talks without agreement and with mutual recriminations between the parties for maintaining unwavering positions.
