New forensic doctors 2024: assigned destinations and taking office obligations

Key data

Those approved in the 2024 Forensic Doctors Corps civil service exams have had an official destination assigned since April 21, 2026. The Resolution from the Department of Justice and Democratic Quality closes the selection process initiated with Order PJC/94/2024, of January 31, determining the specific assignment of each official to an institute of legal medicine and forensic sciences.

This administrative act is not a minor formality: it immediately activates compensation rights, service obligations, and most importantly, the deadline for taking office. Whoever fails to do so in time and form loses the position.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution formalizes three specific legal effects on the new officials of the Forensic Doctors Corps:

• Assignment of territorial and organizational destination: each approved candidate is assigned to a specific institute of legal medicine and forensic sciences, determining where they will provide their services.
• Activation of rights and obligations: from the date of the resolution (April 21, 2026), those affected have the right to the compensation of the assigned position and are subject to the obligations of the office.
• Obligation to take office: officials must present themselves at their destination within the regulatory deadlines established for new entry officials. Non-compliance with this deadline entails the loss of trainee official status or the position obtained.

From the perspective of the Administration of Justice, the resolution has a direct effect: it fills vacant positions in the institutes of legal medicine and forensic sciences that have been unfilled since the call of Order PJC/94/2024.

Economic and operational impact

For new officials, the assignment of destination has immediate economic consequences:

• The compensation linked to the assigned position is activated from the date of the resolution (April 21, 2026), not from publication in the BOE (May 5, 2026).
• The specific geographic destination may involve relocation costs, change of residence, or the need to request mobility assistance provided for in civil service regulations.
• Non-compliance with the office-taking deadline does not generate a direct economic penalty, but rather the total loss of the position, which is equivalent to losing the result of a selection process that may have lasted years.

For the receiving legal medicine institutes, the incorporation of these professionals means filling vacant positions, with the consequent impact on operational capacity to meet judicial demands for expert reports and body removals.

Who does it affect?

• Forensic doctors approved in the Order PJC/94/2024 call: they are the only ones directly affected by the destination assignment and the obligation to take office.
• Institutes of legal medicine and forensic sciences: receive the new officials and must manage their operational incorporation.
• Courts and tribunals dependent on those institutes: benefit from filling positions that were previously vacant.
• Department of Justice and Democratic Quality: as the issuing body, assumes the management of possible claims or appeals arising from the destination assignment.

Practical example

A forensic doctor who passed the selection tests of Order PJC/94/2024 and has received a destination at a legal medicine institute receives notification of the resolution. From April 21, 2026, the effective date of the resolution, the regulatory deadline for taking office at that destination begins to run.

If that forensic doctor, for any reason, does not present themselves to take office within the established deadline—whether due to not having properly managed the notification, not knowing the exact deadline, or for any other reason—automatically loses the position obtained and the trainee official status. There is no ordinary margin for correction: the consequence is the definitive loss of the selection process result.

Therefore, the most urgent action for any affected party is to verify the exact effective date of their individual resolution and calculate the applicable office-taking deadline according to current civil service regulations.

What should those affected do now?

1. Verify the individual destination notification: check that the resolution has been correctly received and that the assigned destination matches expectations. In case of discrepancy, initiate the claim procedure before the office-taking deadline expires.
2. Calculate the exact deadline for taking office: the deadline begins from the effective date of the resolution (April 21, 2026) or from individual notification, depending on what current civil service regulations establish. Do not wait for BOE publication to start counting.
3. Manage relocation if the destination involves a change of residence: verify if you are entitled to relocation compensation or geographic mobility assistance provided for in the Forensic Doctors Corps regime.
4. Present yourself at the assigned legal medicine institute within the deadline: taking office is the formal act that consolidates the position. Without it, the resolution does not produce favorable effects for the official.
5. Keep all documentation from the process: destination resolution, proof of taking office, and any communication with the receiving institute. This documentation is necessary to prove the status of career official of the Forensic Doctors Corps.