Massive backlog in Malaga province courts with over 140,000 unresolved cases and nearly 100,000 unenforced sentences

Irene Quirante

Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 08:49

The latest report from the High Court of Justice of Andalucía (TSJA) provides some data that help to grasp the true scale of the chronic backlog of cases that is being experienced in Malaga province's courts, a situation that more than justifies the request to create 82 new posts for judges across most areas of the judicial system. At the end of last year, according to the report, some 140,233 cases remained unresolved and almost 100,000 sentences had not been enforced. This is despite the fact that judges in most areas of law were able to settle more cases than they received.

The TSJA report does highlight that the workload of these courts has been excessive in practically all the judicial districts of the Andalucía region, but "especially so in the case of Malaga", which last year logged a total of 93,655 cases. This figure was in addition to the 52,062 pending from the previous year. Hence, as far as the TSJA is concerned, it is deemed necessary to boost the number of judges by creating at least 25 new posts.

The courts that hear cases on work-related matters also ended the year with a significant number of unresolved cases (23,430). Some 17,815 new cases were admitted in 2024 and were added to the 17,815 already carried over from the previous year. The judges for such cases were able to resolve 14,268 of them. It should be noted that these courts deal with particularly sensitive matters for the individuals concerned, cases such as dismissals, accidents at work or claims for sums of money. The TSJA considers that eight more judges are required in this area of law to "alleviate the overload they are suffering."

The number of pending cases (11,520) is reduced to just under half in the criminal courts, for which an increase in staffing with four new judges is requested. As for the Court of Instruction in Malaga city (these courts hear cases for referral to other courts), four additional judicial posts are also requested as there were 8,828 pending cases at year end. This figure excludes other pending cases at the same type of courts in Fuengirola (1,608), Marbella (4,034) and Torremolinos (2,477). There were also 5,005 unresolved administrative litigation cases, 3,953 commercial cases (such as insolvency, intellectual property, trade disputes), 2,985 gender violence cases and 2,265 family court cases.

The courts that closed the year with the fewest cases pending were those for minors (643) and prison supervision (404 - for instance, parole hearings, prisoner rights). The TSJA considers that it would be necessary to create six new posts to hear civil cases at Malaga's provincial court and another four for the criminal side. There were 6,493 civil and 1,486 criminal cases pending resolution.

While the situation for Malaga's courts is somewhat exceptional due to its high litigation rate and the presence of organised crime on the Costa del Sol, the TSJA's analysis extends to the difficulties faced by the entire region. The report highlights the "inability" of the courts to reduce the backlog and regrets that, for yet another year, "the response time exceeds reasonable limits."

The tone of the report stresses once again that "it is impossible to put an end to the existing backlog in Andalucía's judicial bodies with the current staffing levels and a defective organisational system." It argues that this panorama of staff shortages cannot be left to the "goodwill" of the judges themselves to take on more work.

Apart from pending cases, the TSJA has once again turned its attention to the high volume of sentences that, despite having already been pronounced, had not been carried out (for instance, going to prison, paying a fine) by the end of the year. This is a problem that, years ago, the TSJA described as "one of the black holes" in the court system and that, at the close of 2024, again presented "data far from what is desirable." In Malaga province alone there were 99,693 proceedings pending this final step.

Looking specifically at Malaga, the finger of blame points directly to civil cases, of which 81,804 have yet to be enforced. A large number of these were carry-overs from previous years, as last year 21,335 sentences were received for enforcement and the judges were able to dispose of a total of 19,034.

Malaga was also one of the Andalusian provinces in which the number of criminal enforcement cases increased, rising by six percent. Even so, the judges in this area of law were able to dispense with more cases than they received. According to the report, 16,296 cases were registered and they were able to resolve 21,626. Despite this, 17,889 sentences were still pending implementation at the end of the year.

As the report pointed out, the enforcement of judgements is part of right to effective protection enshrined in article 24 of the Spanish Constitution, which guarantees the right to obtain a judicial decision in the exercise of one's rights and legitimate interests, without any loss of defence. In this regard, the TSJA states that the slowness in the enforcement of court decisions is withholding the collection of huge sums of money, "such that the enforcement delay goes beyond the individual level to impact the economy directly due to the obvious paralysis of millions of euros."

The suspensions of trials and hearings, as mentioned in one of the sections of the TSJA report, constitute a "serious dysfunction" that is repeated year after year. This means that the gap that was scheduled for this procedure cannot be filled by the inclusion of another trial or hearing. Moreover, staff are forced to search for a new slot in the judicial calendar so the case can proceed.

In Malaga, despite the decrease in suspensions of hearings in all areas of law, 31% of hearings had to be postponed (7% less than in the previous year). Suspensions are at 25% for civil, the same for criminal and 27% for litigation cases, but the percentage soars for employment cases: 55%.

According to the report, a total of 79,006 trials and hearings were scheduled last year, of which 24,167 had to be adjourned.