Eduardo Parra | EUROPAPRESS
It clarifies that the strike that they maintain in the field of Justice cannot affect “a public duty” and that in the elections “there are no minimum services, all are essential”
16 mar 2023 . Updated at 9:13 p.m.
The threat of suspension of the elections of May 28 due to the strike of the lawyers of the Administration of Justice (LAJ) has been extinguished. The Central Electoral Board ruled this Thursday that its relationship with judicial lawyers is not of a functional nature and that their work as secretaries of the provincial and area electoral boards is not paid, since the amounts they receive on election day have the concept of bonuses and compensation. In short, the Central Electoral Board determines that “all persons who participate in electoral processes do so in compliance with an essential public duty established by electoral lawwith which it is inconceivable a possible exercise of the constitutional right to strike that can exempt those who exercise it in compliance with said duty ».
The Central Electoral Board thus responds to the consultation made by the Ministry of Justice regarding the possibility that the corresponding lawyers would not attend the call to establish the different electoral boards on April 7, in the event that the strike of these officials continue on that date. In the letter of the highest electoral body it is made clear that «no law establishes the possibility of exercising the right to strike by the people who carry out tasks in the electoral Administration». He clarifies that he does not prohibit this right either, “although it is easy to see the difficulties that trying to substantiate an electoral process in which, to cite an example, the thousands of members of the polling stations decide to start a strike would entail.”
The opinion recalls that judicial lawyers are exercising their right to strike based on their work as such, but “not in their capacity as secretaries of the provincial or area electoral boards.” The Central Electoral Board also argues that it is not a governmental authority that is responsible for establishing minimum services, and on this point it clarifies that “in electoral matters there are no minimum services, all services are essential».