Spain's government publishes its largest-ever judicial hiring call, adding 700 judge and prosecutor posts

The call published in the BOE

The Official State Gazette (BOE) published this Monday the call for 700 new judge and prosecutor positions. The Ministry of the Presidency and Justice described the move as the largest macro-call in history. Minister Félix Bolaños had teased the announcement a day earlier with a social-media post telling followers to watch the BOE.

Breakdown of the 700 new posts

The 700 posts are split into two main streams: 575 positions for judges and prosecutors via competitive exam (375 judge posts and 200 prosecutor posts), starting in October, and 125 magistrate posts via the so-called fourth turn, a competition for jurists with recognised competence and more than ten years of professional experience. Of the 500 judicial posts, 363 are for instance courts, 2 for the Central Instance Court, and 85 for collegiate bodies (71 for provincial courts, 7 for high courts of justice, 4 for the National Court and 3 for the Supreme Court). The remaining 50 are territorial assignment posts linked to a specific geographic area but redistributable according to workload.

Scale compared to previous governments

The government stated that 2,515 judge and prosecutor posts have been called since Pedro Sánchez arrived in office in 2018, triple the number called during the two terms of Mariano Rajoy. It compared the current macro-call with the 2012–2016 period, when only 350 posts were called in five years. The measure will increase the judicial workforce by 8.5 percent in a single year.

Legal and political backdrop

The announcement comes during a difficult week for the government. This afternoon Begoña Gómez, the prime minister's wife, attends a preliminary hearing, and a Supreme Court ruling is expected on the case involving former minister Ábalos and Koldo García. Emiliano García Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, warned that the possible indictment of the PSOE as a legal entity in the party-financing case would be the worst thing he has seen in politics.

Additional staffing plans

In parallel with the call published on Monday, the government is finalising the creation of another 500 judge posts and 200 prosecutor posts, to be approved in the coming weeks via two royal decrees. The Justice Ministry noted that adding 500 judge posts in one year is historic, a figure higher than the sum of posts created over the previous decade.