The Technical Office of the Supreme Court was created by Royal Decree 489/1985, of 2 April, and is the direct responsibility of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Article 163 of the Organic Law on Judicial Power), with the Ministry of Justice being responsible for determining its composition and workforce, following a report by the General Council of Judicial Power, after hearing the Governing Chamber.
1. Composition
The staff consists of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and five Judges, appointed by the Assembly of the General Council of Judicial Power following a binding proposal by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The staff of the Cabinet also includes a Court Clerk, thirty-five lawyers (also appointed by the Assembly of the General Council of Judicial Power for a period of three years, renewable for another three) and the relevant administrative and contract staff.
2. Functions
The Technical Office has the following functions:
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Attending to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Governing Chamber and the Chairmen of the Chamber within the scope of their powers and institutional relations.
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Legal-technical assistance to the various Chambers of the Tribunal, according to the instructions of their respective Chairmen, as well as the Extraordinary Chambers and the Governing Chamber.
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Public reporting of jurisdiction or government activity by the Court, pursuant to the instructions of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, by its Governing Chamber and the Chairmen of the Chamber.
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Those assigned by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Governing Chamber or Chairmen of the Chamber, as well as those determined by Law at all times and those others necessary for the proper functioning of the Supreme Court in all the instrumental aspects of judicial power.
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The performance of the tasks necessary to enable the development of case Law databases.
The structure of the Technical Office corresponds to the functions assigned to it. Thus, the Judges, lawyers and administrative officers of the Justice Administration bodies are integrated into the different areas of jurisdiction of the Technical Office to provide legal-technical assistance to the various chambers, both at the stage of admission as well as at the final settlement of the appeals of which they are aware. On the other hand, also integrated into the Technical Office are a number of instrumental departments, which facilitate or enable the exercise of the abovementioned functions to support the Technical Office, also contributing to the overall general functioning of the Tribunal. They are as follows: General Registry, Translation Office, Communication Office, Department of Archives, Department of Computer Science, Reprographics Department, Department of Library and Documentation.
