The lists of lawyers registered in the Legal Aid and Court Access System (SADT), known as court-appointed defenses, may see a decrease of 80% to 85% in September, according to the President of the Portuguese Bar Association (OA), Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro. On Thursday, she stated that the protest participation was still around 90%, but typically lawyers leave registration for the last few days.
If participation remains at least 80%, this means, according to OA figures, that about 1,800 lawyers will be available for court appointments, compared to the usual 9,000 who register.
“Even if participation stays around 80% or 85%, it will be a very significant protest by the profession, sending a clear signal to the Government that they do not accept continuing to work for these rates,” argued the President. She considers the rates, which haven’t been revised in almost 20 years, to be “extremely out of touch with current reality.”
For example, the unit reference value for payment is set at 26.73 euros, which is what a lawyer receives for a legal consultation, “before taxes,” the President emphasized.
Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro exemplified that in a criminal case in a single-judge court, a lawyer receives eight reference units for the entire process, or 213.84 euros, regardless of the case duration, total proceedings, and only after the final judgment, meaning the lawyer may wait years to receive their fees, excluding travel expenses.
“When lawyers calculate at the end of the process, often they are paying to work, and this is not dignified,” the President argued.
Negotiations for revising the fee schedule began with the previous government, and “the work was already well advanced,” stressed the President. She criticizes the new executive for proposing in recent meetings with the OA another working group to analyze a matter that was monitored by services and technical staff who transitioned and are familiar with the dossier.
The OA wants an additional 20 million in the next State Budget for court-appointed defenses and “a clear signal” from the Government that the fee schedule revision “is not to be further delayed.” They consider it a bad sign that the next meeting is scheduled for October 9, the eve of the budget submission to parliament.
The Ministry of Justice (MJ) defends its handling of this dossier, stating that it “has been paying attention to this issue from the beginning but is doing its homework” and that “when it has reached a conclusion, it will certainly inform interested parties and the public.”
The MJ emphasizes that courts have alternatives to respond to potentially empty on-call schedules, such as directly appointing any “present or contactable lawyer.”
The OA believes that “things may become complicated during September,” with many proceedings being postponed. They reject availability to help courts find available lawyers as usual, in solidarity with the called protest.
The Order denies that defendants’ rights and guarantees may be at risk, emphasizing that they will always have the right to defense, even if proceedings have to be rescheduled.
