Campo has once again appealed to loyalty and consensus with the political forces to "make a common front and ensure that Justice is transformed because the objective cannot be to return to the old normality" and has pointed out that "the mechanisms of territorial co-governance that we have launched are one of the great lessons of this crisis. "
During his speech, the minister also referred to # Justicia2030, the Justice transformation program for the coming years that will be "solid and projected into the future" and "highly consensual" with operators and administrations involved.
In relation to the management of the health crisis, Campo stressed that "Spain has lived up to the circumstances" and the measures adopted by the Government to contain the virus have pursued at all times "protect public health and guarantee the exercise of the fundamental rights of citizens ". In relation to the Administration of Justice, he has described as "colossal effort" the work carried out by officials and professionals to "keep essential services upright".
Covid-19 roadmap
In his appearance, the minister has outlined the roadmap agreed by Justice and the sector as a whole to overcome the crisis and contribute to the country's social and economic recovery. "The ministry has worked quickly and planning," he stressed, from the priority of coordination and the generation of consensus, "betting on co-governance." This has required continuous and regular communication with all operators whom the minister has thanked "for their effort and full predisposition to reach agreements" within the framework of the Crisis Coordination Commission of the Administration of Justice for the fight against the coronavirus.
The minister stressed that all the actions carried out by the ministry have been "consulted, adapted and adjusted" in the 25 virtual meetings held to date to give a "common and forceful" response to the crisis. In addition, more than 40 resolutions have been issued by his department to guarantee the operation of the public service in a changing scenario.
Campo has called for continuing to articulate collaboration and joint government formulas, especially necessary in areas of shared management such as Justice.
Essential services and job security
The minister has indicated that, despite the fact that activity in the Justice Administration has been reduced significantly during the crisis, essential services have been maintained "because the State must not and cannot neglect its role as guarantor of rights individual ". As a protection measure against coronavirus, teleworking has been promoted and actions have been coordinated with the different autonomous communities for the provision of the service in the headquarters in safe conditions.
Campo stressed that guaranteeing occupational health "has been one of the guiding principles of the ministry's action" and proof of this is the Occupational Safety Scheme and the Plan of de-escalation in the Administration of Justice which was adopted by consensus on May 8 within the Coordination Commission. In addition, Justice has coordinated the purchase and distribution of personal protective equipment for Justice personnel throughout the territory, delivering to date nearly half a million gloves, 220,000 masks and 30,000 hydroalcoholic gel dispensers. The ministry is already working to guarantee sufficient material coverage for the de-escalation.
Activity of the Ministry of Justice
Apart from the jurisdictional activity, the action of the Ministry of Justice in this extraordinary period has not stopped, the minister said, and teleworking systems have been enabled for about 80% of the workforce. Since the beginning of the crisis, 11,496 resolutions of nationality files have been issued by residence, 354 resolutions of refusal pardon, and 23,756 certificates of last will and 15,891 certificates of death coverage insurance contracts have been issued. In addition, notarial and registry activity has been guaranteed in those most urgent and postponable matters to contribute to the streamlining of economic activity. Specifically, in this period, the number of authorized deeds and intervened policies has exceeded 135,000.
Organizational, technological and procedural reforms
Campo has referred to the three pillars of the Covid-19 roadmap:
one. Royal Decree-Law 16/2020, of April 28, on procedural and organizational measures to deal with COVID-19 in the area of the Administration of Justice.
The norm was validated by the Congress of Deputies on May 13 and it is already working in coordination with the competent administrations in the deployment of the measures it contains for the different phases of de-escalation. The minister has indicated that at the last meeting of the Coordination Commission it was agreed to maintain phase 1 and the provision of the service in the Administration of Justice by 30-40% of the staff.
Campo has referred to the organizational measures of the Royal Decree-Law that also includes an extension of the 'vacatio legis' of the Civil Registry Act of 2011 that will be partially amended "from the broadest consensus."
2. Draft law on procedural, technological and organizational measures
Given that most of the measures contained in the decree are valid for three months, the minister explained that his department is working on a "more ambitious and efficiency-oriented" bill that will place special emphasis on digital transformation. of the Administration of Justice and in the alternative means for the resolution of conflicts. All legal operators are making their contributions to the text in order to approve the rule in June at the Council of Ministers.
3. Shock plans in the different jurisdictions to address the situation generated by the stoppage of activity and its economic consequences
The Government will approve the implementation of these shock plans that the minister has described as "imperatives" within a maximum period of 15 days from the time the measures agreed upon by the state of alarm are lifted. According to the forecasts of Justice, more than a million new cases will enter between 2020 and 2021 in the Social order. Regarding bankruptcies, it is estimated that it would go from the 7,000 that were presented in 2019 to the 50,000 in 2021.
# Justicia2030
The minister has insisted that the Covid-19 roadmap must necessarily be the first step of # Justicia2030, the project his department is working on to transform and strengthen public service over a ten-year horizon. "The objective cannot be to return to the old normality but to promote transformation despite the circumstances," and face it, he stressed, "from the consensus."
Campo explained that # Justicia203 aspires to "that we be more efficient" overcoming the logic of incrementalism as the only axis of Justice policies. For this, one of the first measures has been to transform the structure of the Ministry of Justice to consolidate it as a "modern and advanced" public administration with a "solid team and great technical capacity".
One of the most important projects of # Justicia2030 is to move towards a new Criminal Procedure Law that allows updating the forms of criminal investigation and prosecution. The minister has informed the Senate Justice Commission that the commission has already been established to draft the preliminary draft to be submitted to the Council of Ministers before the end of the year. Work is also beginning on the preliminary draft of the Defense Law.
Among other matters, the minister has stressed that the government is placing victims of crime "at the center of the agenda." In this sense, it has announced that Justice will strengthen victim assistance offices and efforts will be redoubled to attend to women who suffer gender violence. "We are a society that should blush every time a woman is killed," he lamented. Campo has also highlighted the collaboration of Justice with two initiatives of the Government in this matter: the Law of Sexual Violence and the Law of Protection of Boys, Girls and Adolescents against Violence.
Other projects that are intended to be carried out within the framework of # Justicia2030 are those related to the digital and organizational transformation of Justice, such as the "complete and final" implementation of the Judicial Office project, the implementation of the courts of instance , the consolidation of the digital judicial file and the integration of procedural management platforms. It is, Campo pointed out, "to convert technological dispersion into an asset of the system." The minister stressed that the health crisis "has made the deficiencies in technology of our Justice system even more visible" and therefore it is necessary to accelerate "an inevitable process".
