Minister wants divorces heard by notaries

Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the former major of Madrid, has proposed that divorces in which there is common agreement between the two parties be conducted by public notaries rather than judges in order to free up the logjam in the judicial system. Civil marriages could also be overseen by notaries, he said.

However, lawyers and judges expressed concern about abandoning court control of divorce cases in which there are children involved as this could put their welfare at risk.

Gallardón said Spain's courts handled more cases than the average in Europe, adding that many of these should be dealt with by officials other than judges. "It doesn't make any sense that a mutually agreed divorce cannot be directly formalized by the two parties before a public notary," the minister said in an interview Wednesday with local radio station COPE. "The same could be applied to a civil marriage."

Some 70,000 couples in Spain get divorced by mutual consent every year, while there are some 100,000 civil marriages.