At the opening ceremony for the new judicial year, the President of the Republic of Portugal called for an urgent change in the way Portuguese society viewed justice and called for a pact between politicians and the judiciary.
The President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said Portugal needs to "turn justice into a political priority," and appealed to partners to go "much further than ever before" to establish a pact.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa then shifted the blame from politicians and those running the currently inept judicial system, and called for "a cultural and extended change of mentality in Portuguese society," as if the public was unaware of the problems dogging this forgotten sector.
At the ceremony in the Supreme Court, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that the opening of the judicial year "invites reflection" but also that it is a time to celebrate justice.
"How can justice be converted into a political priority" asked the President, recalling that since the 1974 revolution there have been no major changes in the sector.
Recalling the 2006 "Pact for Justice" proposed by the PS and PSD, mainly devoted to penal law, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered the need for a "cultural change in society" in order to put justice as a political priority, noting correctly that the justice sector ultimately influences the development of others, such as the economy.
State prosecutor Joana Marques Vidal added that despite the current shortage of prosecutors, leaving more to do for those that were in office, this demotivating environment could undermine positive results achieved in the past year.
The president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Henriques Gaspar,said things are not so bad, for example the average length of civil proceedings is running at 17 months, but reserved his ire for the European court system which has developed an annoying habit of kicking out Portuguese rulings – a case in point being the recent ‘freedom of the press’ case involving Visão magazine.
The Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, wants the politicians to "to legislate less but to legislate better" with laws that are less open to misinterpretation.
As for the disastrous Citius computerised court management system, admittedly inherited from her often sober predecessor Paula da Cruz, Francisca Van Dunem said the system has been stabilised but remains delicate and the time has come to cut out the parts that do not work.
The Bar Association highlighted the problem of legal costs which are out of proportion to household incomes and constitute an insurmountable obstacle for many that are unable to access justice due to a lack of money.
"Today, with a middle-class crushed by taxes, raped by cuts and with wage and pension cuts, you can not continue to be indifferent to the impoverishment of these citizens as you demand payment of manifestly intolerable rates and fees compared to their budgets."
In summary, Portugal’s justice system is unaffordable for many, hopelessly overburdened with many cases taking several years even to be scheduled, an appeal system that is used needlessly to delay justice rather than improve it, characterised by unmotivated staff, slow judges and a lack of political will to sort things out.
A good example of Portugal's slack system and the lack of imperative to clear the backlog of cases is the fact there an annual official opening for the judicial year happens at all. This is only necessary by the closure of the entire system throughout the 4.5 weeks of August.
Maybe working a full year, saturdays and evenings would start to clear the caseload instead of a rather feeble call for a new 'pact.'
There is no need for Rebelo de Sousa's 'change in mentality' from the Portuguese public as they would like very much to benefit from a justice system that works: after all, they already are paying for it.
As things stand, the court system is for the rich while the poor have no access to legal remedy, however strong their cases.
