Not even two months ago, Gemma Ubasart (Castellar del Vallès, 1978) made her debut as Minister of Justice after leaving Junts del Govern. With a budget of 1.1 million euros, its main competence is prison administration, a management that the Generalitat took over in 1983.
How are the Catalan prisons?
In Catalonia we have a successful prison execution model, with a much lower recidivism rate than our environment. How have we found the prisons? Certainly stressed, as is society. Our goal is to bring life back to prisons, to return to intensive use of activities and treatment. It is essential to normalize the situation after the pandemic.
The prisoners' mental health has deteriorated, what will they do?
It is a delicate matter and more after a pandemic. A protocol has already been signed with Salud and here we want to work firmly. We are planning various performances. It is an issue that we have to take very seriously.
Suicides have also increased, what is being done?
This is one of the toughest and bloodiest issues we have on the table. The increase in suicides is also happening outside, but the people in custody are our responsibility and we have to work for a zero suicide rate. We are launching pilot programs that can prevent suicide, beyond mental health treatment, and I want to show affection for those who have lost a family member in our prisons. A single suicide is a failure of prison policy.
Aggressions have also increased, how will you deal with it?
We believe that the pandemic and the confinement that occurs is an important factor, but surely there is not a single explanatory factor. We are analyzing this increase in attacks that worries us, and see what measures we can take.
It is the first time that there is a councilor from the environment of the commons, how is it going to be noticed?
I believe that I well represent the consensus of 80% of Catalan society, which points to a de-judicialization of the dispute and emphasizes fundamental rights. And this idea that there is a political conflict and it has to be resolved politically, and there has to be a referendum.
The repeal of the crime of sedition and its reformulation as aggravated public disorder can affect the mobilizations, there are complaints, how do you see it?
The repeal of the crime of sedition was a necessity, and it is late. Another thing is the debate on the aggravated modality of public disorder. Let's take the issue with prudence, one thing is the text that enters Congress and another is the one that leaves the parliamentary process and finally how the judges apply it, which has to be consistent with respect for fundamental rights and has to guarantee the right to protest.
A reformulation of the crime of embezzlement is also on the table, what do you think?
As Minister of Justice I have to be very rigorous, I have not seen any document and it is a criminally sensitive issue with a very mired political debate.
How to make it not benefit corruption convictions?
If there is a reform, it has to be very surgical and well oriented so that corruption is not penalized. It is an interesting debate and we should be able to do these debates from the rigor and not from a partisan battle.
In Parliament, you announced that you will promote alternative penal measures, what will you do?
Prison has to be the last option and anything that can reduce the prison population is good. We have a crash plan for alternative penal measures to jail, we will double that budget.
What will they do regarding mechanical restraints for prisoners? They are in question, but officials see them as necessary.
We are talking about situations that generate a lot of tension and risk for both officials and inmates. The goal is zero mechanical containment, as recommended by international organizations. What we do is evaluate the measures that are being implemented and alternative measures. But you can't be simplistic, you need a lot of rigor and seriousness. With data and empirical evidence, we will make decisions.
And how do they focus attention on the victim of the crime?
The retributive system emphasized penalties, we have to move to a justice that thinks more about the victim, what needs she has and how she can best overcome the trauma, how we accompany her, also with restorative justice processes.
It has been demarcated from the anti-occupation plan of Councilor Ciuró, of Junts, why?
With such a complex issue we don't have to do populism. Squatting to commit crimes is an issue that worries us a lot, they affect many municipalities. We have made a working group with the Interior, to make a diagnosis, think about measures, and regulatory reforms if appropriate. But the Ciuró proposal did not solve the problem. The modification that was proposed via the Catalan Civil Code is made based on the concept of conflictive occupation. It is put in the same bag as occupations due to vulnerability issues. It generates legal uncertainty and can generate management difficulties. On the formal side, it affects the Civil Procedure Law and would have no route in terms of security.
When will Barcelona have a center of democratic memory like other cities have?
We want to recover an old proposal that is to transform the Via Laietana police station into a memory center, it is a priority. We will work with the Spanish Government to explain to them that it is a space where enormous torture took place during the dictatorship and it has to be given a new meaning. We believe that the Government can be in tune and we will work to achieve it in our mandate.
Have you been able to sit down and talk with Minister Pilar Llop?
Yes. I have raised, and I also did so in the Justice sector, the need for more funding. I also insisted on the question of the justices of the peace. In Congress there is an organizational efficiency law underway that goes in the right direction, but it would de facto repeal the justice of the peace courts, which are a reality that is deeply rooted in Catalonia and help us mediate and clear up the courts. We are talking about how to preserve its functions.
To carry out these proposals, new budgets will be needed. Will they be approved?
We can have expansive budgets, where different political forces see their priorities reflected, and it would be very difficult not to have them with a large majority
