Spain’s Courts, Already Strained, Face Crisis as Lockdown Lifts

MADRID — A flood of new court cases, some with little precedent, is expected to deluge a Spanish judicial system already gasping for breath, bogged down by delays and lagging in technology.

In a country known for its litigiousness, lawyers and judges are bracing for a period of turmoil and disorder in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

One judge expects as many as 150,000 people to file for bankruptcy, up from a few thousand last year. Lawyers representing Spaniards who lost loved ones to the virus have already filed a lawsuit against the government, arguing that it is guilty of negligent homicide.

The country gingerly restarted court proceedings this month after suffering one of the worst outbreaks in Europe. Now experts worry that previous attempts to overhaul Spain’s already struggling justice system will be set back even further by the pandemic and an onslaught of new virus-related cases.

Litigants have complained for years about cases’ dragging out in Spanish courts. A report by the European Commission from last year showed that Spain had one of the most drawn-out processes among member states, with civil cases taking more than 200 days on average to reach initial resolutions.

Proposals to overhaul the system have been repeatedly shelved in recent years as Spain has grappled with four national elections since 2015 and long periods of government limbo.

Parliament, eyeing the backlog and the potential barrage of new cases, was stirred to act this month, approving the government’s plan to shift most court proceedings to videoconference, extend court hours and use trainees to bolster staffing. Certain cases — people fighting insolvency or embroiled in child custody disputes, for instance — are to be prioritized.