The head of the Portuguese Bar Association (OA) said today that she views “with hope” the government’s initiative to draw up a package of measures against corruption in consensus with MPs, the judiciary and civil society.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro praised the initiative, especially “for listening to the judicial operators”, but said that action was then needed, investing and equipping the justice sector with “human resources, logistical resources, adequate tools and experts”, because otherwise “it is not possible” to achieve the goal of fighting corruption.
“Unfortunately, the problem of justice is not limited to the issue of corruption,” she emphasized, pointing out that Portugal already has “cutting-edge” legislation on combating corruption, although there is a need to make some “adjustments” and “streamline procedures”.
According to Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro, the problem of corruption needs to be tackled in three ways: prevention, education and through the courts, but in order to “take action” the government needs to provide the means, especially as this type of crime is “difficult to investigate”.
“We’re all on the same side” in the fight against corruption, she said, stressing, however, that the “lack of resources” for this purpose has been highlighted for years.
Fernanda de Almeida Ribeiro revealed that she will be requesting a meeting soon with the new Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice, to discuss the “pending issues of the legal profession” and also the lawyers’ pension fund.
Today, the government decided to mandate the Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice, to talk to all the parties with parliamentary seats, agents in the justice sector and civil society with a view to drawing up a package of measures against corruption.
The decision was announced by the Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at a press conference following the first meeting of the Council of Ministers of the XXIV Constitutional Government, pointing out that this process will begin immediately after the parliamentary investiture.
“We will quickly approve an ambitious, effective and consensual package of measures to combat corruption,” said the minister.
The anti-corruption package had already been announced by the Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, in his inauguration speech.
“The aim is to have a summary of proposals, measures and initiatives within two months that can be agreed and consensualized, once their consistency, credibility and feasibility have been duly tested,” he said, arguing that “no one has a monopoly on the best solutions”.
From then on, he added, the executive will focus on approving the respective laws, “either at the proposal of the government or at the initiative of parliament”.
On April 11 and 12, the Assembly of the Republic will debate the program of the XXIV Constitutional Government, a document that will be delivered on April 10.
