The resolution by the Ministry of Justice, which affects 200 temporary judicial staff positions across the territory, means that the Catarroja court will lose four of the five civil servants who were supporting the investigation into the management of the cold drop. This situation, according to the judge, is critical, as the affected personnel had been familiar with the procedure since March 26, 2025, and functioned as a cohesive team.
“"The almost complete elimination of personnel resources and the insufficiency of material resources inevitably affect the instruction of the procedure."
The Consell, for its part, has justified this measure as part of a staff stabilization process, assuring that the 200 longest-serving reinforcement workers will become permanent staff. Miguel Barrachina, spokesperson for the Consell, stated that the objective is to transform temporary reinforcement into structural and permanent positions to improve service quality.
However, Judge Ruiz Tobarra has denounced that, in addition to the staff cuts, the cold drop case already suffers from a lack of material resources, with courtrooms and computer equipment that are "clearly insufficient" to handle the complexity of the case with the necessary speed.
Given this situation, the judge has issued measures to adapt to the new reality, ordering that recordings of testimonial, expert, and investigated declarations made from June 30 onwards be provided to the parties without transcription. Likewise, she has indicated that offers of actions to affected parties and testimonial declarations for cases of deaths and injuries will continue not to be recorded in the computer system, and that notifications to the involved parties will be made through the corresponding act.
