The CGPJ specializes Madrid's 33rd Section in gender-based violence

The Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has assigned to the 33rd Section of the Provincial Court of Madrid the specialization, in an exclusive and excluding manner, in the knowledge of matters regarding Violence against Women. The agreement was adopted at the meeting on September 29, 2026, and is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 251, of October 9, 2026, in Section III of other provisions. The measure will take effect on December 31, 2026.

Legal basis and issuing body

The agreement is based on the provisions of articles 80.3, 82, and 82 bis 2 of the Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1, of the Judiciary, which enable the specialization of sections of the provincial courts in certain matters. The text is signed by the President of the General Council of the Judiciary, María Isabel Perelló Doménech, and bears the official reference BOE-A-2026-21028.

The agreement is structured into three points:

• Assigning to the 33rd Section of the Provincial Court of Madrid the exclusive and excluding specialization in Violence against Women.
• Setting the entry into force of the measure on December 31, 2026.
• Ordering the publication of the specialization agreement in the Official State Gazette.

Effects from December 31, 2026

The effective date coincides with the start of activity planned for the 33rd Section of the Provincial Court of Madrid according to Royal Decree 559/2026, of July 8, on the creation of five hundred judicial units corresponding to the 2026 programming and the adjustment of the judicial workforce. This regulation, published in BOE no. 166, of July 9, 2026, creates the new section within the block of new sections in provincial courts.

The composition of the 33rd Section will consist of four magistrate positions: one presiding magistrate and three magistrate positions. Its configuration is carried out through the creation of four new positions, one of which will determine the Presidency of the new section, in accordance with article 7.ccc) of the aforementioned royal decree.

Precedent: the specialization of Barcelona

The decision regarding Madrid follows the lead of other specializations agreed upon by the same body in recent weeks. On September 8, 2026, the Permanent Commission of the CGPJ assigned to the 23rd Section of the Provincial Court of Barcelona the specialization in Violence against Women, in that case in an exclusive but non-excluding manner, with the identical effective date of December 31, 2026, and with the same judicial workforce regulation as a reference.

Both agreements respond to the same framework: the creation of new sections in provincial courts provided for by Royal Decree 559/2026 and the authorization of the Organic Law of the Judiciary to concentrate the knowledge of matters regarding violence against women in specialized bodies.

Impact for litigants

The exclusive and excluding specialization implies that Section 33 of the Provincial Court of Madrid will solely assume the appeals and matters of violence against women that correspond to it, without sharing them with other sections of the same body. For victims, lawyers, and courts throughout the region, the change represents a single point of reference for second-instance proceedings starting December 31, 2026, the date on which the section will begin its activity in accordance with the judicial plan approved for 2026.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 251, of October 9, 2026, Sec. III. Other provisions, page 134555 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21028).