The General Council of Portugal’s Bar Association has expressed its "vehement rejection" of the new judicial map for Portugal which will see many of the nation's courts close completely while others are to be downgraded.
The Association's Council said that it expresses solidarity with those affected by the closures by its rejection of the reduction in the number of courts in the country whereby “many council areas now have their court in regional capitals, twenty courts are to close, and a further 27 downgraded to mere ‘counter service’ and of the measures included in the approved legislation which affect citizens’ rights and freedoms, and the guarantee for citizens of the fundamental principle of access to justice and the rule of law.”
To address the issues raised by the new judicial reorganisation of the country’s courts, which was approved by the Government last week, the Bar Association said that it will "hold a meeting as a matter of urgency with district councils to analyze and discuss the closures of these courts and the affect this has had in several counties."
The Association also is to schedule a meeting with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities to “express the availability of the Bar in taking part in initiatives and actions with the Intermunicipal Communities and individual municipalities."
The Association also aims to talk to the President, the head of Parliament and all the parliamentary parties to present its concerns on the negative impacts on the population and on the judicial system arising from the new ‘judiciary map.'"
The new judiciary map provides for the closure of 20 courts across the country and converting 27 others into shadows of their former selves.
The closure of the court in Monchique has already led to the mayor issuing an injunction to halt closure proceedings under the constitutional right of every citizen to have access to justice.
The Bar Association is late on parade as its current huffy proclamations would have been better had they been issued before these proposals became law, rather than after. Meetings with regional groups and councils could have had some affect before the law was passed but righteous indignation from the Assocaition's Council well after the law was passed makes its members look late and rather foolish.
