The Minister of Justice, Juan Carlos Campo, has held a videoconference with the lawyer Antonio Garrigues, who has entrusted the coordination of the work for the preparation of the draft law on the right of defense, one of the commitments acquired by Campo at the beginning of the legislature.
This renowned jurist will preside over the commission of experts that will draft, by order of the minister, a legislative text that regulates in a "coherent and comprehensive" way the professional, procedural and healthcare aspects of fundamental law.
The objective of the Ministry of Justice is to address the creation of a norm that gathers in the same text the multiple expressions in which the right of defense is manifested, as an institution that affects the professional performance of legal operators, the processing of procedures and the citizens' access to Justice. It is an essential pillar in the configuration of our model of Justice. In addition to a fundamental right recognized in article 24 of the Spanish Constitution, the exercise of defense constitutes a backbone of the modern judicial process.
This fundamental right encompasses the set of legal guarantees and powers that assist the parties in a judicial process, allowing them to defend their legitimate interests and thus satisfy their right to effective judicial protection. In this sense, it constitutes an inescapable instrument to avoid defenselessness and guarantee real equality between the parties to the process.
But, in addition to that aspect, the future law must address the regime in which the legal profession provides this service, regulating its own ethical dimension with its function. The new text should also include the legal regime that details the powers and safeguards of those who participate in alternative conflict resolution mechanisms to the jurisdiction, such as mediation or conciliation.
All this without forgetting the assistance aspect of the exercise of this benefit by the lawyers on duty and free legal assistance.
