At the Justice Sectoral Conference held today, the Ministry and the Autonomous Communities agreed unanimously on the final implementation of this law on 31 December in practically the whole country
Official data show the good results of the law, which has helped reduce pending communications by 36% and judgment enforcement, 30%. Likewise, the CGPJ notified a 31% drop in new civil lawsuits as a result of the Appropriate Means for Dispute Resolution (MASC)
Madrid, 22 December 2025 - The Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, presided on Monday the Justice Sectoral Conference, held by videoconference.
At the meeting, the Minister presented the initial data of the Law of Efficiency of the Public Service of Justice, which is already providing tangible results of streamlining procedures, one of its main objectives. The regulation, in effect since last April, has managed to decrease pending communications (notifications, injunctions, etc.) by 36% on average in the communities analyzed. It has also proven its effectiveness in speeding up judgment enforcement, and reduction of pending final judgments, in some territories, by up to 69%. Furthermore, citizens have already conducted 98,400 judicial transactions at the Justice Offices in the Municipality, since they were created in June. Previously, it was not possible to conduct these actions remotely from any municipality.
Unanimous agreement
During the call, with a cordial atmosphere, the Autonomous Communities and the Ministry noted the great effort and excellent work carried out so far, and addressed the tasks in the third and final phase for implementation of the Law, expected on 31 December. This phase implies commissioning of 100 Instance Courts in the major judicial districts such as Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza, Palma and Valladolid.
In this sense, they unanimously agreed that the Judicial Offices would provide technical support to all the Instance Courts in large cities that shall become operative on 31 December, except for Oviedo, Gijón and Avilés, which will do so on 15 February, to enable these judicial districts to finish final technical adjustments.
Moreover, the Ministry and the Autonomous Communities also unanimously agreed to allow all judicial districts certain flexibility so that commissioning of the necessary teams is done gradually based on organizational needs and workload, without affecting, in any case, the Public Service of Justice provided to citizens. All the same, human and material resources are already available for the Instance Courts.
The Law of Efficiency is the greatest structural reform of Justice in decades, aimed at turning it into a more agile, modern and citizen-centered public service.
More agility and fewer lawsuits
The Law contemplates an organization reform which modernizes a judicial system designed in the 19th century, transforming traditional single-judge courts (3,800) into 431 Instance Courts, collegiate bodies where judges are divided into specialized sections (civil, criminal, violence against women, etc.), and there is a single Judicial Office for technical support. This provides greater agility as resources are optimized, workloads are better distributed and there is more flexibility to adapt to needs.
As foreseen in the Law, over 300 Instance Courts have become operative this year without any notable incidents, and the Ministry has been able to evaluate the initial results. In Andalucía, pendency of communications has gone down by 43.8%, in the Comunitat Valenciana, 34%, and in the Canary Islands, 22%. The average for the 7 communities for which data are available is 36%.
The Ministry's evaluation also confirms more agility in judgment enforcement. In Andalucía, the reduction of judgment enforcement pending reached 69%, in Castilla-La Mancha, 55%, in Catalonia and Comunitat Valenciana, 27%, and in the Region of Murcia, 15%. The average of the communities studied was 30%. (Data from the Instance Courts operating since 1 July provided by the Court Clerks of the Superior Courts of Justice)
Reduction in cases
Additionally, the Law of Efficiency includes a key procedural change to reduce litigations, promote dialogue between the parties and expedite dispute proceedings. It is the obligation to resort to the Appropriate Means for Dispute Resolution (MASC) in civil and business matters before initiating any judicial procedure.
In this area too, the Law is showing positive initial results. According to the data of the General Council of the Judiciary, during the third quarter of the year, there was a drop of 30.9% in the number of new litigations in civil jurisdiction.
Coordinated implementation
Since implementation of the law began, the technical work group created by the Ministry with the Autonomous Communities has held 27 follow-up and coordination meetings, and seven Sectoral Committee meetings during the year. The Ministry also organized an extensive training plan on the new regulation for judges, Justice Administration lawyers and public officials, as well as an awareness programme for legal operators with scores of sessions held across the country. There have been 280 information sessions on Instance Courts, 305 training courses on digitization with over 15,000 people enrolled, and a Conference for Managers of Shared Services with close to 300 attendees.
As for funding, the Ministry invested more than 325 million euros, from European funds, in the 12 Communities with devolved powers for Justice. It should also be noted that the Law of Efficiency will save close to 300 million euros in the next 10 years in the 12 Autonomous Communities with devolved powers in this area.
This reform which the Ministry has been working on for years, is the greatest transformation of Justice since the 19th century. The improvement has been achieved thanks to the commitment of all: Autonomous Communities, judges, magistrates, Justice Administration lawyers, and Justice public officials, among others.
