Overview
- The Ministry of Justice reports early gains under the Efficiency Law, with hearings up about 3%, trials scheduled up nearly 6%, and pending cases down 4.5% in civil and 0.67% overall.
- The overhaul replaces single‑judge courts with territorially based courts of instance that share common services, with most new bodies switching on in early January after a phased 2025 rollout.
- A new requirement that many civil and commercial disputes try mediation or conciliation before filing has cut incoming cases by about 20.4%, which has eased court intake.
- Judicial associations, the Madrid bar and some regional officials say the rollout was rushed, citing software glitches, incomplete staff reassignments and confusion that they argue masks workload rather than speeding it.
- Justice officials call the problems isolated and plan more capacity with 500 new judge posts and 200 prosecutors, after investing over €1.121 billion in staff, digital tools and buildings and promising a quality commission to track results.