According to a report by BBC News in Madrid the judges in Spain are staging a one day strike because they are not happy with their working conditions. This has led to hundreds of trials shuddering to a grinding halt throughout Spain although ‘important trials’ are apparently not affected. (When I wonder what constitutes an ‘important’ trial I have to admit that questions of length and pieces of string come to mind!).

The judicial associations behind the protest are said to represent 2000 of the 4500 magistrates in Spain and are calling for the judicial system to be modernized. They also claim that at least another 1000 judges are required to deal with the current workload and bring the number of Spanish judges up to the European average.

The Spanish Minister of Justice, Mariano Fernandez Bermejo, believes that the judges have no right to strike and pointed out that they only represented a minority, adding that the two Associations which represent the majority of judges have already said that they prefer to pursue other forms of protest.

Mr Fernandez Bermejo has also called upon the highest judicial body in Spain to take action against the protesting judges regarding their purportedly illegal strike. Wonder what would happen though if they went on strike too?