The President of the Portuguese Assembly, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, highlighted the common practice of issuing “calls for attention” during the legislative process in a recent interview in Vila Nova de Gaia. He emphasized that his opinion on the nationality law was not an exception.
“It is common, in relation to many statutes (…) to include calls for attention, whether because attention must be paid to budget brake laws, or to any norm that may raise constitutional issues, so that these situations can be overcome during the legislative process,” he stated.
The context involves Aguiar-Branco’s opinion on the government’s law altering the nationality regime. He expressed concerns over potential unconstitutionality due to the government’s proposal to apply changes retroactively to immigrants with naturalization requests prior to the law’s enforcement.
Aguiar-Branco mentioned that his constitutional doubts, particularly about the proposed retroactivity, should be “considered” during the specialty phase and he is “certain that this will happen.”
Regarding whether this issue might reach the Constitutional Court, the President of the Assembly suggested that this may not be necessary, emphasizing that the concerns he raised should be resolved during the specialty discussion before the final vote.
Last Friday, the government’s proposed laws amending nationality and immigration diplomas moved to the specialty phase without a general vote.
The government’s proposal seeks to increase the residency period required for citizenship from five to 7 or 10 years, depending on whether applicants are from Portuguese-speaking countries. It also allows for the possibility of revoking citizenship for those naturalized for less than 10 years who receive a prison sentence of five years or more for serious crimes. In terms of granting original nationality to descendants of foreign residents in Portugal, a legal residency period of three years will now be required.
