Speech by President of the Government at inauguration of Legal Congress of Malaga Bar Association

Málaga (España)

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good day to you all.

My first words are of gratitude. Thank you all very much for your speeches. My thanks go, in particular, to Francisco Javier Lara and, by extension, to the whole of the Malaga Bar Association, for their invitation to take part in this congress, which gathers together, as has been mentioned here, legal talent from throughout Spain. My thanks also go to Victoria Ortega, who is doing such sterling work as the President of the General Council of Spanish Lawyers. My thanks also go to all the officials present here today, and there are many, and, of course, to José Ortiz, the mayor of a town, Torremolinos, which once again displays its extraordinary tradition as a host.

Dear friends,

As a legal professional, I must say to you that it is an honour to share this inaugural event and its gives me satisfaction to take the opportunity of this speech to convey to the lawyers of Spain my sincere message of gratitude. I thank the lawyers of Spain for defending the law and the rule of law, for defending a constitution which, born out of consensus, has provided us with the best years of our shared history and I thank you because, through defending our constitutional framework, you have contributed to making this a better country and a fairer society.

Octavio Paz said that "Without democracy, liberty is a pipe dream". And Spanish lawyers have protected, through the responsible exercise of their profession, one of the most genuine articles of our Constitution that provides the greatest guarantees: that which grants everyone the right to obtain the effective protection of the judiciary and the courts, as well as those rights that protect us from a lack of defence and arbitrariness. Our co-existence, democracy and the hallmarks of a constitutional Spain will always find lawyers to be their best ally in facing down the enemies of what make us stronger and greater as a nation each day: liberty.

Furthermore, legal certainty is an essential value for progress and the civic consideration of our society. Legal certainty is the lynchpin of the modern rule of law in an evolving world which, nonetheless, demands certainty, foreseeability and stability. Far from being a whim of legal scholars, legal certainty constitutes the basis for all advanced models of co-existence and development in this 21st century.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There is another reason to be extremely grateful to the Spanish legal profession, and that is its example and its commitment in tackling the most far-reaching crisis in the history of democracy in Spain which, straddling two centuries, must look to the future with confidence.

We have worked together, we have worked responsibly and, modestly speaking, I believe that we have done this well. Together, for the first time in our democratic history, we have made justice one of the strategic pillars of the National Plan of Reforms, and together we have pushed through a reformist vision of the justice system which has gone beyond mere technological modernisation to try to offer a response to many of its problems, You are undoubtedly well aware of these problems:

• We had a real problem in the organisation of the justice system, to which end the Constitutional Law on the Judiciary was reformed to enable, among many other things, a better distribution of the workload between the courts, and the specialisation of judicial bodies.
• Another problem we had was a criminal justice system far removed from the daily concerns of our citizens. That is why we pushed through the reform of the Criminal Code, with new offences and sentences to ensure a safe and better protected society.
• There were other difficulties: for example, criminal procedures that were inexplicable in the 21st Century. To that end, we reformed the Criminal Procedure Act, to speed up justice because, are you are undoubtedly aware, slow justice means no justice or less justice. There is still a lot to be done, but the path of reform we have started down cannot be halted for the good of the people of Spain.
• Excessive litigation was also a burden. That is why we approved laws that commit to a culture of conciliation rather than conflict, such as the Mediation Act, and we backed new measures that help discharge the functions of the judicial bodies, such as the Law on Voluntary Jurisdiction.
• The crisis also brought its own problems with it, devastating such groups as entrepreneurs and families. That led to the enactment of the Second Chance Act to help all those who wish to return to entrepreneurial activity, those who strive to work hard without giving up when their cause is good and strong.
• We have also had to step up protection for other unprotected groups. To that end, we approved the Victims Charter, strong measures to counter gender-based violence and to strengthen the protection of minors, as well as extending free legal aid to those people in particularly vulnerable situations.
• Another very serious problem is related to the values that support our nation, such as unity, national sovereignty and the equality of the Spanish people, wherever they may live. To that end, we reformed the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court, which guarantees something as basic and fundamental as ensuring that its rulings are complied with.
• And, together with this problem, which concerns us all, we have approved a major raft of anti-corruption measures, including the Office to Recover and Manage Lost Assets.

I don't want to bore you by going into detail on each and every reform and improvement we have undertaken, but I would like to mention the commitment to technology in our justice system today, a commitment that clearly benefits our legal professionals and citizens, who are provided with a better, faster and cheaper public service. In order to put this into numbers, I will simply quote a couple of figures to you: to date we have saved 393 million euros in costs on travel, paper and time; we have carried out almost 14,000 electronic auctions and almost 50 million electronic communications have been made in a commitment to new technologies on which, fortunately, there is no turning back.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Your voice as lawyers has also been essential in this latest stage of reforms and in many of the current affairs of our justice system. This was true in repealing court fees, in maintaining judicial districts, in the new approach to the future Professional Services Act and it was also true, for example, in extending the constitutional benefits of free legal aid to large swathes of the population and for needy groups, such as for victims of gender-based violence.

I don't just want to mention the past; we must also speak, in particular, about the future, and I believe that the time has come for our justice system, and that a debt which has been outstanding since the transition to democracy must now be repaid: that of proposing a complete overhaul of the system, a reform that offers our citizens and our society new responses and solutions in new times; times in which justice must be consolidated because that is where our liberties lie, and that is the backbone of our model of co-existence.

Perhaps there has never been a better opportunity than the one we are offered today since the Moncloa Pacts back in 1977 to push through one of the major strategic and structural reforms in our country, as soon as it is possible to form a government. And this must be tackled in the same way as we always face up to challenges in a democracy: together, united and with a sense of responsibility, through a great national, political, institutional, social and professional agreement, with participation from all involved, by listening to everyone and by building together.

I am sure that the voice of lawyers will remain key here, as has been recalled this morning. Justice needs to be open, transparent and accountable; to be swift and efficient, better organised and more effective; to continue to be independent, exemplary and high quality like the public service it is, and to be accessible to everyone, to become fully digitalised and so that, through legal certainty, it can inspire confidence and security and thus be a catalyst for our economic growth.

Dear friends, I will draw to a close now.

We are facing many challenges, but, if the Spanish legal profession has always known how to do something, it is that, as I learned from my elders, law and its practice is none other than codified common sense. But it is not only that; it has also shown that it knows how to rise to the occasion, tackle problems head on, using intelligence to overcome hurdles, with an unquenchable capacity to propose a consensus and, more importantly, to reach a consensus. In my opinion, consensus never means giving up, quite the opposite, this means success for everyone.

This congress is the clearest evidence that things are this way and that is why, once again, I thank you for inviting me here. Thank you very much.