Santander, (EFE).- The indefinite strike of lawyers, which exceeds 50 days, has doubled the number of pending procedures in the courts of Cantabria, delaying the resolution of legal proceedings.
At the beginning of this strike, called throughout the national territory since January 24, the Cantabrian courts had 13,000 papers pending to resolve.
After seven weeks of hiatus, that number has risen to 25,000.
These procedures include all the writings that lawyers and solicitors address to the court, such as powers of attorney, responses to lawsuits or responses to evidence.
As the territorial delegate of the body of lawyers in Cantabria, Julio Antolín, points out to EFE, this strike has also led to the suspension of 1,800 judicial proceedings, which include the holding of trials.
no way out 25 million
And the Cantabrian courts have accumulated 25 million euros in their accounts, which are not being released.
This figure comes from fines, withholdings or embargoes that are addressed to other administrations or to individuals but the court is not giving an exit because they must have the signature of those previously known as court clerks.
There have also been, during this time and due to the stoppage, 4,700 lawsuits pending submission from all Santander jurisdictions, 2,700 of them from first instance courts.
Is 28M at risk?
In addition, Antolín warns, the lawyers’ strike could jeopardize the holding of the next regional and municipal elections in May, since the provincial and area electoral boards, which ensure the correct development of the process, must include a lawyer from the administration of justice.
According to the lawyer, if these organizations are formed and the lawyers continue on strike, they could not be constituted, unless, he qualifies, the Ministry of Justice changes the minimum services decree to include this activity.
The lawyers of the administration of Justice ask the Ministry to “fulfill its commitment” and apply a down payment clause to never charge less than 85% with respect to judges and prosecutors, provided they have the same seniority, and that their salary does not less in small towns.
The civil service body denounces that they have been accumulating new functions and workload without compensation over the years.