In March, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) indicated the “end of the first half of this year” for the implementation of a room near the international area of Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, intended for the in-person hearing by a judge of foreign citizens detained at the border. This deadline has not been met.
“The realization of this project continues to depend on the completion of necessary works, the execution of which is not the responsibility of the CSM,” stated the judges’ management body on July 23.
The next day, an official source from ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, which manages Lisbon Airport, assured Lusa that the company had only authorized the PSP to carry out works in the mentioned space, having no further involvement in the process.
When questioned by Lusa, PSP indicated that “the responsibility for providing and constructing the space belongs to ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, so it is not up to” the security force “to comment on this process.”
“We only need to mention that, in March of this year, we expressed our agreement with the proposed space,” they added.
According to the CSM, the intention to create the room remains, to which a judge from the Lisbon Minor Crimes Court will be assigned, the court with the authority to decide on the measures to be applied to foreign citizens detained during border procedures.
In March, the CSM clarified that the measure is part of the work being developed between a working group from this body and the United Nations Agency for Refugees to “implement solutions that enhance the protection of human rights.”
Currently, “only in rare situations” does the hearing of foreigners detained at the border occur in person.
“The Portuguese State must ensure the in-person hearing of all detainees, in order to observe their fundamental rights. The way to ensure this, given the legal and operational constraints of transferring detainees to the court, is the creation of a space, at the airport itself, to conduct such hearings,” justified the judges’ management body at the time.
Currently, the Lisbon Minor Crimes Court operates exclusively at the Lisbon Justice Campus, about three kilometers from Humberto Delgado Airport.
