Madrid  - A year ago, 5-year-old Mari Luz Cortes left her home in the southern Spanish city of Huelva to buy a bag of crisps. She never returned. Two months later, her body was found floating in a river estuary.

"Case Mari Luz" could have been just another tragic killing by a paedophile, but it uncovered serious deficiencies within the Spanish judiciary.

The case is still making headlines as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government faces a showdown with judges threatening an unprecedented strike this month.

Mari Luz is believed to have been killed by a 43-year-old man who had been sentenced for child abuse, and who should have been in prison at the time when the girl went missing.

However, nearly two years after the man had been sentenced, judge Rafael Tirado still had not complied with the order to jail him.

The discovery of Tirado's act of negligence sparked a scandal, but the General Council of Judicial Power (CGPJ) only handed the judge a fine of 1,500 euros (2,000 dollars).

Mari Luz' father spoke of a "national shame," while both the Socialist government and the conservative opposition accused the highest judges' organ of "corporativism" in protecting a colleague who deserved a more severe sanction.

The government has announced tougher sanctions for judges guilty of misconduct, but judges' associations are up against such measures.

It is unfair, they say, for the authorities to put the spotlight on rare mistakes by judges and other judicial personnel who are struggling with piles of work in difficult conditions.

Spain's 4,600 judges get no less than 8 million new cases to deal with annually.

Lack of coordination between regional judiciaries and computer systems, red tape and lack of personnel weigh heavily on courts which find themselves congested with some 2.5 million cases still left to resolve by the end of each year.

Attempts at a judicial reform have been sidelined by political power struggles affecting the judiciary.

The government and opposition recently agreed on the composition of what one newspaper described as the most politicized CGPJ for decades, with both of Spain's main parties placing nine members close to their views in the 21-strong organ appointing and watching over judges.

The socialists and conservatives have also been struggling to control the Constitutional Court, the country's highest tribunal alongside the Supreme Court.

The two top courts and the anti-terrorism National Court handle cases linked to politically sensitive issues such as the degree of self-government enjoyed by Spain's semi-autonomous regions, Basque separatism or a possible new abortion law.

The politicization of the judiciary is seen by many analysts as having concentrated a lot of power in the hands of judges at the expense of parliament.

It has also created "star judges" such as National Court magistrate Baltasar Garzon, who has become known internationally for challenging human rights violations in Latin America.

More recently, Garzon also sparked a domestic political conflict by trying to pursue human rights abuses committed by Spain's 1939-75 dictator Francisco Franco.

His investigation was in line with government policies, but it was blocked by prosecutors allegedly close to the opposition.

Politically coloured cases involving high-profile judges have eclipsed the work of ordinary judges, who joined judicial secretaries in staging a work stoppage to protest their lack of resources and what they saw as government interference in the Mari Luz case in 2008.

The government now faces a bigger such strike despite its new attempts at a judicial reform. (dpa)