The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, appeared today at the Justice Committee of the Senate. During his talk, he insisted on the Government's commitment with the Justice reforms, a historical opportunity to turn it into a public service of the 21st century, he stated, against the immobility of the opposition, which prefers to remain in the past 'sewing ledgers' instead of modernizing it.
The Minister presented details of the draft Organic Law of Criminal Procedure (LOECrim), and summarized his ambitious regulatory agenda, which he considers 50% complete, with milestones such as the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, digitization of Justice, and the Law of Efficiency, which modernizes a judicial organization designed in the 19th century.
About the pending reforms, he announced that in the first months of 2026, the Law of Free Legal Aid shall be passed, thus completing the greatest transformation of Justice in decades. He also insisted that he shall continue working to have two laws, currently in progress, passed, the new LOECrim and the Organic Law to Extend and Reinforce Judicial and Prosecutor Careers, which will improve the working conditions of this group and help create positions for 2,500 judges and prosecutors in three years.
Bolaños also referred to other current matters, related to his requested appearance at various parliamentary groups. Regarding the fight against corruption, he stated that the Government has shown zero tolerance, taken immediate actions and promoted major initiatives such as the State Plan to Fight against Corruption. He also highlighted that the latest evaluation by GRECO (Group of States against Corruption), confirmed that Spain is already fulfilling 16 of its 19 recommendations (84%).
As for another one of the matters for which his appearance had been requested, the prosecution of the State General Attorney, the Minister repeated that the Government abides by the ruling, but disagrees respectfully with it. He also said it would be good to have the text of the judgment as soon as possible.
A new criminal system that is more modern and provides guarantees
During his presentation of the draft Organic Law of Criminal Procedure, the Minister pointed out that, after 143 years, the project will modernize the criminal procedure and attribute investigations to the Prosecutor's Office, under the oversight of a supervisory judge. The project, he noted, is based on previous texts from Ministers such as Rafael Catalá and Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, and originated in the State Pact for Justice of 2001.
The Minister declared it provides a model with more guarantees, puts us on the level with countries in our European environment and is more respectful of constitutional provisions which attribute to judges the function of administering justice and to prosecutors that of pursuing their cases.
Likewise, he underlined that the draft includes a reform of the Organic Statute of the Prosecutor's Office, reinforcing its autonomy with measures such as separating the term of office of the State General Attorney from that of the Government's.
