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Judge president of the Court of Appeal of Évora, Albertina Pedroso, spoke at the opening of the colloquium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April
The presiding judge of the Évora Court of Appeal, Albertina Pedroso, said in her opening speech at the colloquium she organized on the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, that it is no longer possible to disguise the system’s vulnerabilities.
The presiding judge of the Court of Appeal of Évora asked to give priority to Justice in these times. Albertina Pedroso spoke at the opening of the colloquium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April in the palace where the court is located, which brought together lawyers, magistrates, professors and citizens to debate various themes of Justice and freedom conquered with the 1974 revolution. took place on April 23rd in the main hall of the court, which covers the district of Santarém.
Albertina Pedroso highlighted in her speech that the independence of the judiciary must be strengthened and warned of the system’s vulnerabilities. The judge highlighted that the courts are the last stronghold in defending the rights, freedoms and guarantees of citizens. But referring to the speech by the president of the Supreme Court of Justice on March 21st, “the intermittences of political action in an area so fundamental to the lives of citizens and to democracy, have led us to a present in which it is no longer possible to disguise system vulnerabilities.”
The judge, the first woman to preside over the Court of Appeal and who has been in office since December 18, 2023, highlighted that “it is urgent to place Justice as a priority in political action. Albertina Pedroso also referred to the time of the dictatorship to remember the brave and those who resisted. “Although justice in the Estado Novo was conditioned by the initial laws and rules of a State that affirmed the primacy of authority over freedom, there was always someone who resisted and said no.” The judge also highlighted that even at that time there were always courageous judges and lawyers in Portugal, “as Francisco Salgado Zenha tells us in the four cases in the case of lawyer Humberto Lopes that the court released”, she recalled.
The colloquium, which featured a musical moment by the Grupo Coral Cantares de Évora, had interventions from the mayor of Évora, Carlos Pinto de Sá, and the rector of the University of Évora, Hermínia Vilar. It included the presentation of the video “Justice before and after the 25th of April”, by prosecutor Aurora Rodrigues and judge Bruno Guimarães, as well as the presentation of the exhibition “Rescuing Silence”, by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice.
There were interventions by lawyer José António Barreiros on justice in the revolution and by professor at the University of Évora, Silvério da Rocha Cunha, with the theme “Human Rights: from censorship to fake news”. The judge of Appeal, Emília Costa, spoke about “Civil Rights: a gender perspective”. Professor Nuno de Salter Cid spoke about “Family law and social reality, before and after”. Lawyer João Oliveira spoke on the topic: “What rights in the Constitution for the second 50 years of Portugal de Abril?”.
