SONIA'S FACE OR THE FACE OF INJUSTICE

A face can finally be singled out of the ever-increasing number of people already damaged by the new Court fee system implemented by the Spanish Government, a sad face to look at under the present circumstances: http://www.betera.com/2013/02/22/betera-se-vuelca-con-sonia/ (in Spanish).

Sonia is a 7 –year old girl who was born with several malformations. Her parents do believe that those are the result of medical malpractice, as Sonia’s problems were not duly detected by doctors during her mother’s pregnancy.

Some years ago her parents started a legal battle that has proved unsuccessful so far. Now, the only hope left for them is the Supreme Court, but the new legal scheme means that they are due to pay the amount of 7.000€ as Court fees to have the right of presenting their case before the Supreme Court. If the situation were the opposite,  namely, a powerful entity considering an appeal before the Supreme Court as their last alternative, who can doubt what their decision would be? But in the case of Sonia’s family things are not so simple, as they have been living with some relatives for more than one year now for want of money to pay their mortgage.

The reform of the Court fee system implemented by the Government last week hasn’t come to Sonia’s aid. The law amendment, hurriedly drafted and approved by the Government bypassing Parliament again, is probably their response to mounting pressures, especially those coming from all segments of the legal profession and even from the EU authorities; most notably, Spanish Judges, Court Secretaries and Public Prosecutors went on strike last week.

Unfortunately, the amendments made to the law only have a make-believe appearance. The Government has boasted an 80% reduction in the Court fees for natural persons as a result of the changes introduced, but the truth is that the said reduction does not apply to the fixed part of the fees, only to the variable one. In fact, the Government itself has disclosed their manoeuvre when declaring in the preamble to the Decree that amends the law that the new scheme will only entail a 5% decrease in the proceeds stemming from the Court fees.

For Sonia, the foregoing “fencing” exhibition simply means that, in the best possible scenario, the requested amount for her case to be able to access the Supreme Court would be about 3.200€, as far beyond her possibilities as it would be for so many Spanish people nowadays.

Not only the right to be heard in Court is recognized by the Spanish Constitution, but also by a huge pile of international treaties entered into by our country. Let’s face facts: Human Rights are being violated in Spain.