They blame the Public Ministry for the “fall of two parliamentary majorities” and accuse it “of undue interference in political power”. They ask for fewer wiretaps, fewer searches and fewer preventive detentions. They want a hierarchically controlled and accountable MP.
What is the manifesto “For Justice Reform” and what triggered it?
In a rare civil society initiative, 50 personalities signed on May 1st, in connection with 50 years of democracy, a manifesto “For a Reform in Justice — In defense of the Democratic Rule of Law”, in which they blame the Public Ministry for the “fall of two parliamentary majorities”, accuse him of “undue interference in political power” and appeal to the government, parliament, the President of the Republic and political parties to urgently reform the sector. Although they give more general explanations about the defense of a “civic upheaval” that introduces changes in justice and puts an end to the “inertia” of political agents, it is undeniable that the initiative now occurred following several recent controversies with the Public Ministry, especially the arising from the Madeira process and Operation Influencer.
In the document, in fact, these references are not forgotten. The subscribers criticize the partisanship with which some processes have been viewed and commented on, focusing specifically on these two processes: “In this matter, the search for a small immediate partisan gain has prevailed to the detriment of the public interest, varying positions depending on party affiliation of those affected, as revealed by the contradictory partisan positions taken in the aforementioned cases that affected the governments of the Republic and the Autonomous Region of Madeira.” And they throw barbs at the PGR for conducting Operation Influencer: “The prolonged passivity in the face of this iniquitous reality allowed us to reach the painful limit of seeing the action of the Public Ministry generate the fall of two parliamentary majorities resulting from recent elections, despite, in both In the cases, in their first intervention, the Courts did not grant favor and even contradicted the accuser’s narrative. To make the situation worse, the country continued to witness the inconceivable, when, with a long five months having passed between the Prime Minister resigning, following the PGR statement, and his cessation of duties, the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not even deign to inform him about the object of the investigation nor did he summon him for any procedural action. In addition to constituting undue interference in political power, these episodes also do not comply with the requirements of the Democratic Rule of Law.”
Was this the first time that these 50 figures criticized the justice system due to the most recent and controversial criminal investigations?
Before this manifesto, several personalities who subscribed to it had already spoken out against the Public Ministry for the treatment given to António Costa in this process. Several figures had already criticized the MP for the delay in questioning Costa or for the inclusion of a paragraph in the statement from the Attorney General’s Office on the day of the searches and arrests — which led António Costa to submit his resignation and, consequently, led the country to elections. Augusto Santos Silva, socialist, former president of the Assembly of the Republic, and one of the signatories of the manifesto, still in April wrote a few lines on his Facebook page attacking the role of justice in this process, namely because António Costa had not yet been heard five months after the PGR informed that a case was being filed against the now former prime minister in the Supreme Court of Justice.
“Since then, nothing more has been known, with the PGR limiting itself to publishing another note on the distribution of cases among teams of magistrates. Parliament was dissolved, elections were held and the competent authorities did not deign to clarify anything about the initiative that was at the origin of all these developments (..). For me, it is a gross violation of basic principles of the rule of law, including disrespect for the separation of powers, disregard for citizens’ right to information essential to their civic choices, and an offense against the fundamental rights of any person, whatever their status. their private or public status”, criticized the former president of the AR.
Rui Rio, former president of the PSD and signatory of the manifesto, had already used his networks to criticize the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucília Gago, on the day that the Court of Appeal overturned the investigation’s thesis and lowered the measures of coercion of some of the defendants: “A Superior Court humiliating a Public Ministry, which, by operating in this way, embarrasses the Country and attacks democracy and the separation of powers. Will the PR continue not to regret not having wanted justice reform and guiding its decisions by the PGR that we have?”, said Rui Rio.
What do the movement’s subscribers criticize?
In addition to criticizing the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in these two specific processes, the 50 figures throw barbs at “the proliferation of prolonged telephone tapping”, “unjustified home searches”, “hasty preventive arrests of dubious legality”; criticize what they call a “disturbing reality”, with “the recurring breaches of judicial secrecy” and “the active participation of a large part of the media” which give rise to popular trials, boycott the investigation and grossly trample on the most basic rights of many citizens, cruelly penalizing them for the rest of their lives, even when they end up judicially acquitted”; criticize the way the MP itself operates, its lack of scrutiny and “corporate profile”: “in practice, a power without control, either externally or internally, first of all, due to the assumed lack of responsibility of the Attorney General of the Republic for the investigations” .
They also remember that, “unlike all other constitutional powers, Justice operates almost entirely outside of any democratic scrutiny or responsibility, despite being constitutionally administered in the name of the People”.
The 50 figures also spare no criticism of what they call “the now usual media spectacle, in the interventions of the Public Ministry against political agents, along with the surgical placement of news about ongoing investigations”. It is these circumstances, they say, that “have intentionally confused the tree with the forest, shaping public opinion towards the idea that all public office holders are equal and that all are corrupt until proven otherwise. This perverse way of acting, with more political than judicial contours, has caused obvious wear and tear on the regime and, consequently, reinforces popular discontent and opens the doors to populism and demagoguery, especially as many processes go on forever without conclusion or end up without indictment or judicial conviction.”
What exactly do subscribers ask for?
The 50 say that it is up to Portuguese society to “provide a civic uplift that leads political leaders to assume their responsibilities” and to choose justice reform as a priority. For this reason, they urge the PR, the AR, the government and the parties “to take the necessary initiatives to implement a reform in the Justice sector, which, fully respecting the
independence of the courts, the autonomy of the Public Ministry and the guarantees of judicial defense, be unequivocally directed towards resolving the bottlenecks and dysfunctions that have long undermined its effectiveness and public legitimacy”. They also claim that this reform must be carried out without corporate interests from the various system operators.
What changes do you want in the judiciary and criminal investigation?
The manifesto says it wants to “return the Public Ministry to the constitutional model of its hierarchical functioning, with the Attorney General of the Republic as its apex, making each level of the hierarchy responsible for the legality and quality of the work
professionals of the teams”, and “implement mechanisms of external democratic scrutiny, namely through periodic reports to be presented to the Assembly of the Republic by the institutional governing bodies of the different judiciaries and their assessment in the competent parliamentary committees”.
Furthermore, it wants to “institute and enforce requirements of consideration, rigor, proportionality and concrete justification, whether in the opening of criminal investigations or in the use of particularly intrusive means of investigation such as wiretaps and home searches, as well as in their periodic review , making the constitutional principle of the presumption of innocence prevail from the beginning”; “effectively enforce the constitutionally protected secrecy of justice, applying criminal law and disciplinary rules against its violation” and “drastically reduce the length of judicial proceedings, fulfilling the requirement of the decision “within a reasonable time”, under the terms of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
So what about the separation of powers?
Regarding the maxim “to politics what belongs to politics and to justice what belongs to justice”, the 50 figures justify that it “prohibits the interference of one sphere in another, but does not take away from democratic political power its responsibility in defining and execution of justice policy. On the contrary, a proactive attitude is required from those who, ultimately, always bear responsibility for the regular functioning of institutions”.
Who are the 50 figures who subscribe to the manifesto?
Former presidents of the Assembly of the Republic, former PSD and CDS leaders, former ministers, admirals, generals, judges, lawyers, former governors — there is a little bit of everything on this list.
Here are the names: Agostinho Abade; Alberto Costa; Álvaro Beleza; André Coelho Lima; António Barbas Homem; António Barreto; António Correia de Campos; António Monteiro; António Vitorino; Augusto Santos Silva; Carla Castro; Daniel Oliveira; Daniel Proença de Carvalho; David Justino; Diogo Feio; Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues; Fernando Melo Gomes; Fernando Negrão; Francisco Porto Fernandes; Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos; Germano Marques da Silva; Isabel Soares; João Bosco Mota Amaral; João Caupers; Jorge Marrão; José António Pinto Ribeiro; José Francisco de Faria Costa; José Luís Pinto Ramalho; José Mário Ferreira de Almeida; José Pacheco Pereira; José Vieira da Silva; Karin Wall; Leonor Beleza; Lucinda Dâmaso; Luísa Meireles; Manuel Sobrinho Simões; Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues; Maria Elisa Domingues; Maria João Antunes; Maria Manuel Leitão Marques; Miguel Sousa Tavares; Mónica Quintela; Paulo Mota Pinto; Renato Daniel; Rui Rio; Sónia Fertuzinhos; Teresa Pizarro Beleza; Teresa de Sousa; Vital Moreira; Vitor Constâncio.
What was the Ministry of Justice’s reaction to this manifesto?
In a statement, Rita Júdice’s office blamed the previous government. “The ministry is very concerned about the situation in which the previous government left Justice. With the strikes that have lasted for 15 months. With a lack of magistrates. With the lack of bailiffs, the courts where it rains. With the prisons that are dilapidated.”
Saying that it is working “hard to try to resolve these problems, from the first minute”, the Ministry of Justice says that there has been a “lack of investment” in the area in the last eight years of socialist governance and that this failure has had a negative impact “on all citizens and companies”.
