POPULATION CRITERIA AND BUDGETARY DETERRANT: DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE QUALITY OF THE SPANISH CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The problem in Spanish Penal District Courts

Resumo

What is the quality of justice? As Melcarne and Ramello (2019) have recently pointed out, there is no clear interaction between quality and quantity in understanding or measuring judicial performance. However, the lack of human resources is often blamed for delays in the delivery of decisions (quantity) in most judicial systems - and could in fact mean a violation of the principle of due process. However, the study shows how difficult it is to assess quality, since even quantity (in fact calculable) cannot always be a trustful variable to measure it. In Spain, it is possible to assume that penal judges work more or less the same. Yet, not all judgments have the same quality. The problem is in the District Courts (some of insufficient size) with provincial criminal jurisdiction. They constantly run the risk - and do so - of breaching the principle of judicial impartiality. This does not happen in the Spanish Supreme Court or in the large District Courts. It is a problem in the judicial performance of justice and in the Administration of Justice. Yet, there are no budgetary or even regulatory stimuli to resolve this situation. A situation that implies a breach of the principles of due process and therefore of the fundamental rights of the accused.