Pilar Llop Cuenca (Madrid, 1973) has been a magistrate, president of the Senate, delegate of the Government for Gender Violence and deputy in the Madrid Assembly and since July 2021 she is Minister of Justice. She faces two major crises: the controversial reductions in sentences for sexual offenders and the indefinite strike of Justice Administration Lawyers.
What has gone wrong in the application of the ‘only yes is yes’ law?The law of ‘only yes is yes’ is a protection law for victims because it comprehensively addresses all those aspects that are aimed at the assistance, care, protection and reparation of victims. But a small part of the law, which is the one related to criminal aspects and, within it, the one related to the application of sentences, has had some imbalances that we have evidenced in the reviews of the sentences. What has occurred is that the change in model, grouping within the same crime what were previously heterogeneous behaviors, which were also in different chapters of the penal code with their own circumstances, have been unified and this has greatly expanded the penological arcs. .What remedy do you propose?What the Socialist Parliamentary Group and the Ministry of Justice have proposed is to readjust the sentences. Maintain the same unified model, maintain the consent model, because consent is untouchable, but make some small regulatory adjustments so that the most serious crimes can be punished with a more serious penalty. What it is about is shielding the rights of the victims, their protection. This reform, which is exclusively technical, has no political overtones, it is the only viable one that we have found to be able to punish the most serious acts with more serious penalties.According to the latest official data, 721 sentences have already been reduced throughout Spain. Did no one in the government see it coming?These effects have been unwanted. They are causing a lot of pain to the victims, to their surroundings and that is why we have to act as soon as possible. It is true that the reviews have already been consolidated, there is no remedy, but from now on we have to give legal certainty to the victims and legal operators so that these penological arcs are not so wide to compensate in a proportionate way the seriousness of the crime .You are one of the few public officials who have assumed some responsibility for these reductions.Obviously, I feel responsible. I believe that public opinion expects that those of us who dedicate ourselves to the public sphere in any sphere assume responsibility for our decisions. The judges act freely. When a law is passed, that law takes on a life of its own and the judges interpret it as they understand it. In this case, they have acted in accordance with the law, but we are also seeing that the prosecution is recurring some of those reviews and we don’t know what the outcome will be. The judicial system, which I absolutely respect, has its own mechanisms to control, detect and correct errors. We have seen it in many resolutions on crimes against sexual freedom. There have been sentences that did not respond to social feeling, to the spirit of the law, and then they have been corrected after appeals. I ask for respect to the judicial system.At what point are the negotiations to reform the law?I hope that it will be reformed as soon as possible, because as long as it is not reformed, all the crimes that are committed will result in lower sentences. But always maintaining the same model, that of consent and the unification of crimes. We have not stopped talking with different political forces, because we hope to reach an agreement, above all with the parliamentary groups that supported the law, which, I insist, is a good law that addresses sexual crimes from all areas. Sentence reductions and releases have caused serious harm to society, to the victims, and we have to act quickly so that the most serious acts are punished with a sentence commensurate with that gravity. The reductions have overshadowed the positive parts of the law, which will be seen in the longer term.The Lawyers of the Administration of Justice have been on an indefinite strike for more than a month. Why hasn’t an agreement been reached yet?We have been in dialogue with all the bodies that we have to manage for a long time. Their salary was increased by about 200 euros per month for payroll. It was a budget commitment of about €40 million that has been consolidated. It meant a very significant salary increase. They have been demanding linear salary increases since 2009. And now they are asking for a down payment clause to increase the salary to 85 percent of that of the judges. The judicial associations themselves have rejected this clause, because they consider that those who fulfill this function are the judges themselves. This clause would mean recognizing almost the same functions of the THE J. We asked them to make other types of proposals, aimed at improving the service, but this has not been the case. We have had meetings and we have made offers to them, but they have rejected them. They have placed themselves in a maximalist position, with an indefinite strike that has generated very significant damage to public service, citizens and professionals in the sector. I ask you to come down from those maximalist positions, to look for public service and let’s continue talking. If there’s any kind of function to be offloaded to them, we’re going to examine it. The increase that they demand supposes more than a thousand euros per month for payroll, it is unaffordable. They would mean 60 million euros, which is more than what the ministry allocates to free legal assistance for people without resources. It seems disproportionate to us.The Balearic Islands, whose Statute of Autonomy has just turned 40, is one of the five autonomous communities that has not yet transferred the powers of Justice.I am convinced of decentralization and that giving communities powers is something positive because they are the ones who are closest to the citizens and best know the uniqueness of their territory. That said, you also have to be aware that transfers have to be done at the right time. If the Balearic Government at some point claims them, it will have to be studied. It involves several ministries, it is somewhat complex. Right now it is not a negotiation that we have on the table.The creation of a City of Justice in Palma has already started. Will it serve to alleviate the lack of space in the courts?It was a claim that came from many years ago. The president of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands, Carlos Gómez, told me that there was a huge lack of space. We got to work with him. Government and Palma City Council and we found some land in Son Pardo that we have bought for five million euros. Palma must have the City of Justice it deserves. The judicial buildings that currently exist are not very functional.The Court of Palma is already indicating trials for 2024. In addition to infrastructure, it seems evident that there is also a lack of means.Are there a lack of resources or is it that we have an ineffective organizational and procedural judicial system? I think it’s a combination of both. We must be ambitious and we would like to have more resources. We have come a long way, thanks also to the €410 million of recovery funds to deploy technological means. On the other hand, we know that Justice is like a black hole that absorbs all the resources that we throw at it. The organizational model is old, from the 19th century, it is absolutely exhausted. We have to look for elements that allow the equitable distribution of work among the entire judicial office. We are working on the Organizational Efficiency Law, that produces a total model change to make it more efficient, accessible, agile and close.As a result of the illegal seizure of the telephone numbers of two Mallorcan journalists to find out their sources, the Government announced that professional secrecy would be regulated. Where is this law?It is in parliamentary process. The bill was introduced last December. It is an important law because it contemplates the non-obligation of journalists not to reveal sources. It protects journalism professionals, which is something very important because they are guarantors of the fundamental right to truthful information. But there are some exceptions considered. By means of a judicial order, the source may be revealed when it is clearly known that the information is false or when it is necessary for the protection of the physical and mental integrity of people. I suppose that in the process of amendment, the parliamentary groups will raise their positions, but I think it is important that the source of information be protected by law.What did you think of the scene of the prosecutor in the Cursach case tearfully apologizing to all the defendants?I am not going to talk about this specific case. But I have to say that we are working on the Criminal Procedure Law, with a great reform of the means so that the Prosecutor’s Office can assume the investigation. We are a consolidated democracy and the Prosecutor’s Office is sufficiently prepared for this, as long as there is a guarantee judge. As a former trial magistrate, I understand that it is sometimes frustrating when matters take so long to resolve. The idea we have is to expedite, but always with the guarantee of all fundamental rights.You are a specialist in gender violence and have been in charge of specialized courts in this matter. Despite legal reforms, we continue to see a chilling number of complaints and murders.We have to pay a lot of attention to gender-based violence within the couple, we cannot relax for a second. We have to know how that violence works. The victim is emotionally and in many cases economically dependent on the aggressor, which makes him retract the complaints. 70 percent of the victims do not report. We have to continue to insist that they trust the judicial system. Only with a complaint can you get a protection order, there is no other way. We have to keep raising awareness, working on training. Education in equality values is the vaccine against gender violence, but training is the antidote. Macho prejudices and stereotypes are very present in all areas.