Irate lawyers in Portugal are on the point of suing the state for unpaid legal aid biils.
Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz admits that there are payment arrears of €15.2 million but, true to form, blames the Secretary for the Budget, Hélder Reis.
The lawyers disagree with Teixeira da Cruz's figures, saying the state owes them €20 million in legal fees for defence and other legal work undertaken on behalf of those too poor to pay their own fees.
The lawyers group has issued a deadline of June 6 for the Ministry of Justice to pay up.
Teixeira da Cruz (pictured) explained that the delay is down to the Secretary of State for the Budget who has known about the extra money needed to settle these accounts since April 17th but has not passed the expenditure in a timely manner.
The office of the Justice Minister has been overwhelmed with multiple emails from lawyers demanding payment of the arrears.
The well organised email campaign threatens that legal action will be taken by each lawyer. This could result in the courts becoming even more choked than they are already.
The Ministry of Justice says the February invoices "should be paid by the end of March and so on," adding that according to the laws covering such payments, there should be no arrears beyond 90 day period and that the January accounts already have been settled.
