The Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) attributed today the four-month delay in approving the opinion of the Advisory Council of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) on the competencies of municipal police to the context of early legislative elections.
Without addressing most of the questions from the Lusa news agency, including whether it considers the Lisbon municipal police to be acting illegally, the office of the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, stated that “MAI did not withhold any document.”
The issue concerns the opinion of the Advisory Council of the PGR regarding the roles and responsibilities of municipal police, dated March 27 and revealed today by the Diário de Notícias newspaper, which contradicts the position of the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), who instructed municipal police to begin detaining crime suspects in the city.
Maria Lúcia Amaral, the current Minister of Internal Administration, indicated that the Advisory Council’s opinion was received by MAI on April 4, “during the term of a caretaker government, following the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic and the call for early elections.”
This opinion was requested by the former Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, in September 2024, to clarify the scope of municipal police operations from a technical-legal perspective, following the position adopted by the Mayor of Lisbon.
According to the office of Maria Lúcia Amaral, the current Minister decided to approve the Advisory Council’s opinion on July 21 “after careful analysis,” and the opinion was submitted to the PGR the day after its approval.
The opinion spanned two legislative sessions following the early legislative elections on May 18, where the PSD/CDS-PP government, led by social democrat Luís Montenegro, remained in power, albeit with changes to its composition, including in the MAI.
The current Minister of Internal Administration reiterated that the PGR’s opinion “reaffirms that municipal police are neither security forces nor criminal police bodies and are prohibited from exercising the specific competencies of these, except for situations expressly provided for by law.”
Among these exceptions, according to MAI, is the ability to make arrests in cases of flagrante delicto for public or semi-public crimes punishable by imprisonment, with the requirement that relevant reports be prepared and the detainee immediately handed over to judicial authorities or the competent criminal police body.
Emphasizing that the MAI did not conceal the opinion, the office of Minister Maria Lúcia Amaral noted that the document, approved approximately four months after being sent by the PGR, was “under review, and, as per legal requirements (Article 50, No. 1 of the Statute of the Public Ministry), its conclusions are published in the Official Gazette following approval.”
Beyond the issue concerning the legality of the Lisbon municipal police’s actions, Lusa inquired of the MAI about their stance on the Socialist Party’s proposal to compensate citizens affected in this context and whether it confirms that the General Inspection of Internal Administration (IGAI) has initiated an investigation into actions by the Lisbon municipal police, but received no response.
Reacting to the PGR’s opinion, Lisbon’s Mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), today advocated for “a small change” in the law to allow municipal police to detain suspects of crimes in flagrante delicto and take them to a PSP station.
The opposition councilors in Lisbon City Hall, notably from PS, PCP, Livre, BE, and Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), criticized the position of the city executive’s president, the social democrat Carlos Moedas, regarding strengthening municipal police powers, arguing that the PGR’s opinion “cannot be disregarded.”
SSM // MAG
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