Early election call kills government’s Justice overhaul bills drafted by Félix Bolaños

The snap election that dissolved the Spanish Parliament has effectively killed two major justice reforms introduced by Minister Félix Bolaños. The first, a revision of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, sought to transfer criminal case instruction from judges to prosecutors and to curb the use of popular accusations by parties, NGOs and unions. The second, an organic law to broaden and strengthen judicial and prosecutorial career paths, would have created a new “fourth turn” in the fiscal career and altered the long-standing structure of the judicial ladder.

Both initiatives faced staunch resistance from the opposition party Junts and were criticised by members of the judiciary, who warned they would undermine the separation of powers. With the Cortes dissolved, the proposals moved from being stalled to definitively dead, adding to a legislative term already marked by numerous blocked bills.