The Riojan High Court of Justice appoints nine justices of the peace in six municipalities

The Governing Chamber of the High Court of Justice of La Rioja has appointed titular and substitute justices of the peace in six Riojan municipalities, with a total of nine appointments. The agreement was adopted at the meeting on September 17, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 197, dated October 13, 2026, under reference 202610080124874.

The appointment is based on Article 101 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary and Regulation 3/1995, of June 7, on Justices of the Peace, approved by agreement of the Plenary of the General Council of the Judiciary. The Governing Chamber resolves based on the administrative files held in the Government Secretariat of the high court, and the position is filled for a four-year term in accordance with the same regulations.

The resolution accounts for nine files: 128/2026, 129/2026, 131/2026, 177/2026, 173/2026, 132/2026, 133/2026, 158/2026, and 159/2026. The document is signed by the Government Secretary of the High Court of Justice of La Rioja, María José Miranda Sainz, in Logroño, on October 1, 2026.

The appointments, municipality by municipality

• Mansilla de la Sierra: Rocío Cristina Menéndez de la Cuesta Aguilar, titular justice of the peace, and María Nélida Rioja Rocandio, substitute justice of the peace.
• Canales de la Sierra: Luis Alberto Mazagatos Ochoa, substitute justice of the peace.
• Alberite: Pedro Javier Sanz Rupérez, titular justice of the peace.
• El Villar de Arnedo: Eduardo Espinosa Degani, substitute justice of the peace.
• Brieva de Cameros: Alejandro Fermín Barral Fernández, titular justice of the peace, and Juan Marcos González Gubía, substitute justice of the peace.
• Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Ana María García Jiménez, titular justice of the peace, and Carlos Valgañón Alonso, substitute justice of the peace.

Titulars and substitutes: six municipalities, nine positions

The agreement covers both the titular position of the justice of the peace court and the substitute position in each of the affected localities. Two municipalities, Mansilla de la Sierra and Brieva de Cameros, receive double appointments, while Santo Domingo de la Calzada is the only larger population among those included in the resolution.

Most of the listed municipalities are small centers in the mountains and the Ebro valley, where the justice of the peace court is the only stable judicial presence. The appointment falls to persons previously elected by the Plenary of each City Council, according to the procedure established by the applicable legislation.

Communications and publicity of the agreement

The agreement orders the issuance of the corresponding appointments and the notification of the same to several authorities:

• The General Council of the Judiciary.
• The Presidency of the Courts of First Instance of Logroño, Calahorra, and Haro.
• The City Councils and the Justice Groups of the corresponding municipalities.
• The Official Gazette of La Rioja itself, where the appointments are published.

The text is part of Section II, Authorities and Personnel, of the bulletin dated October 13, 2026, and consists of a single page, 17232.

Impact on rural administration of justice

The renewal of these nine positions guarantees the continuity of the local judicial service in six Riojan municipalities, several of which have very small populations. In these localities, the justice of the peace assumes functions that do not reach the courts of first instance, so that the coverage of incumbents and substitutes prevents gaps in the daily judicial care of the residents.

The publication in the Official Gazette of La Rioja provides validity and publicity to the appointment and activates official communications to the courts of first instance and the affected city councils, a preliminary step to the appointees taking office.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 197, October 13, 2026, section II. Authorities and Personnel, p. 17232 (official reference: 202610080124874 / BOR-A-20261013-II–1144).