The decree was approved at the Council of Ministers meeting and, according to António Leitão Amaro, is part of a series of measures in the area of Justice related to speeding up processes, allowing for “faster and higher quality judicial decisions.”
According to the minister, one of these measures is the revision of the case distribution system, “reinforcing transparency and guarantees of impartiality.”
The executive led by Luís Montenegro also approved a revision of the Statute of Judicial Magistrates, the Public Ministry, and the administrative and tax courts, with several “measures aimed at strengthening the capacity and attractiveness of the role.”
Leitão Amaro explained that the measures in question relate to the training of management roles and the development of broader support in courts so that “judges can increasingly focus on tasks where they make the most difference and have more support in preparing” their decisions.
In February of this year, the previous government had already approved a draft law for the distribution of cases in courts to be made solely in the presence of a court official; however, it was not debated due to the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic.
The solution was presented at the time by the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, who considered this decree “probably the most welcomed by all judicial operators, without exception.”
The current regulation under the Code of Civil Procedure requires that, during the distribution of cases, besides the court official, a judicial magistrate and a magistrate of the Public Ministry also need to be present.
The Council of Ministers also approved two resolutions regarding the ban on the use of smartphones in schools and the Citizenship and Development discipline, but the official deferred more details about the decrees to a press conference that the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation is expected to hold at the beginning of next week.
Regarding the ban on mobile phones, Leitão Amaro did not confirm whether it will apply to the 1st and 2nd cycles, as outlined in the Government Program, but indicated that the measure would come into effect in September and was decided based on the evaluation of the implementation of recommendations made by the government at the start of the last school year.
According to the study’s conclusions, released today, more than half of the schools that banned smartphone use reported a decrease in bullying and indiscipline from the 2nd cycle to high school, and in the vast majority, students began to socialize more during breaks, engage in physical activities, and use playground game spaces.
