The document presented today by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim, to the first Vice-President of the parliament, social democrat Teresa Morais, outlines a continuous approach in the Justice sector, indicating the creation of a task force to draft a preliminary project aimed at enhancing procedural speed.
This task force, according to the executive program of Luís Montenegro, is expected to comprise specialists such as academics, magistrates, and lawyers.
The objectives are to assess the potential for greater specialization within the courts, deepen magistrate specialization, evaluate the necessity of expanding ‘reward mechanisms,’ and create means to eliminate mega cases.
In February of this year, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) made several proposals to the Government to eradicate mega cases.
Two measures from the task force established by this organization included granting judges autonomy to impose fines of thousands of euros for delaying actions and conducting instruction almost without evidence production.
These measures were criticized by the Bar Association, which argued that they could limit the rights of citizens and lawyers.
In the Justice sector, the Government also proposes in its program, without specifying the methods, to amend access rules to the Supreme Court of Justice to ensure “the rejuvenation of the advisory judges, addressing the imminent risk of a shortage of judges in the Supreme Court.”
The Programme of the XXV Constitutional Government, resulting from the May 18 legislative elections won by the AD coalition (PSD/CDS), was delivered today at the Assembly of the Republic by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim.
The Government’s program was approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday and will be discussed in the Assembly of the Republic on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The PCP has already announced it will present a motion of rejection, but the communists’ initiative is bound to fail, as it lacks support not only from PSD and CDS but also from Chega and PS.
