This latest problem in the system is one that has been threatening to explode for years, writes Jane Walker
No one denies that the Spanish judicial system is in a mess. Files go missing, cases can take years before being heard, and even longer before the sentences are enforced.
On Tuesday last the system came to total stand still when legal secretaries and other members of the profession switched off their computers and laid down their pens in protest at their working conditions. Court rooms emptied and offices closed as demonstrators left the buildings to bring their protests on to the streets.
Politicians are confronting the judges, while the judges, who are officially not allowed to go on strike, held "meetings" among themselves vowing to defend their independence, and CSOEJU, the official body of registered legal secretaries who play a vital role in the Spanish court system, complained they were being made the scapegoats for the delays and inefficiency of the system.
This is not a new problem. It is one which has been simmering and threatening to explode for years. The final straw came at the beginning of this year when Mari Luz Cortes (4) disappeared from her home near Huelva.
Police were immediately called in and the search spread across Europe particularly into Portugal.
Huelva is close to the Spanish-Portugese border, less than 100kms (62 miles) from the Algarve resort where the young British child, Madeleine McCann, went missing.
Unfortunately Madeleine has never been found, but Mari Luz's body was discovered in March in marshland near her home. Suspicion fell on a neighbour, Santiago del Valle, who had joined in the searches but was known to have a criminal record as a pederast. In 1998 he had been charged with the sexual abuse of his own daughter. But the legal system went true to form, and it took another four years before he stood trial.
That case was heard by Judge Rafael Tirado in Seville where he was sentenced to two years and nine months - by which time he had been found guilty of another sexual abuse charge in another city.
The judge is respected by his colleagues because he has a good record for efficiency when handling his cases - not always the case with other judges. But unfortunately, this case slipped through the net and he failed to order del Valle's detention. Tragically, for Mari Luz and her family, del Valle remained free to snatch and rape her before throwing her body into the swamp.
Not surprisingly there was outcry, at the brutal murder of the child, and particularly when it was learned that the alleged killer should have been behind bars. Judge Tirado was unrepentant, claiming that he was too busy to oversee every single case, and blamed the courts legal secretary, Juana Galvez, who failed to alert him that the case had still not been closed.
Mr Tirado has been supported by the College of Lawyers who blame the "chaotic" situation in the Spanish courts. According to one lawyer there were more than 60,000 cases waiting to be heard in Malaga alone by the end of this summer. "Some cases, such as terrorism, property or tax frauds can be heard within 12 to 18 months. Other cases, such as murder or robbery, can be on the books for years," he complained.
Many, including the state prosecutor, called for Mr Tirado to be disbarred or suspended for a minimum of three years. But judges are loyal to their own, and their official body fined him just €1,500 for his failure. Ms. Galvez, on the other hand, was suspended without pay for two years.
This prompted reactions from politicians of all parties. Minister of Justice Mariano Fernandez Bermejo this week criticized the judges for their unofficial strike.
"If anyone believes they are untouchable, then they are mistaken. In a state of law if there is a serious negligence, such as not carrying out a sentence against a pederast, then the mechanism should function and sanctions imposed, he said yesterday.
This is not the first time that a judge's failure to carry out their duty has come to light, and in some cases they have taken tough measures. Last year the General Council for Judicial Power (CGPJ), the body which oversees the judiciary, disbarred a judge in Granada after she "forgot" to order the release of four prisoners. One man was held in jail for 437 days after being found not guilty of robbery.
The National College of Legal Secretaries (COSEJU) which is supporting Ms Galvez, says that their job is being made impossible through lack of equipment and supplies.
Juan Avila, one of their members, denounced the dreadful conditions where many of them are forced to work. "Papers are piled up from floor to ceiling; there are even rats in some back offices," he said, alleging that the Mari Luz case was just one of many failures. "Court offices are full of sentences not carried out because there are insufficient staff to follow them up."
He and his fellow legal secretaries say they are being forced to work with antiquated equipment, and they are demanding computers with programmes which would warn when a case had not been followed through.
He blames politicians who prefer to invest money in more "showy" projects such as new hospitals, schools or seafront promenades which can bring in votes, rather than in court facilities which are not visible to the general public.
"You can't expect a 2008 judicial system with 1880 facilities," he said in a radio interview.
Although the judges complain this week about the interference in their decisions from politicians, it is impossible to deny that the justice system is politicized. Members of the influential CGPJ, the Supreme and Constitutional Courts are all named by the political parties who all want to have their men in positions of power to influence decisions and judgments.
The judges say they need more courts and more personnel to run them. Judge Jose Luis Gonzalez Armengol, the deacon of the Madrid courts, said that the city needs at least 44 new courts to handle its cases and other cities are also in urgent need of reinforcements.
"We are sick of being at the tail end of Europe in the number of judges per inhabitant, we are even behind Greece. In Spain there are 10 judges per 100,000 people, one-third of Germany," he complained. There are 3.1 judges in Ireland per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a recent European survey.