This information was confirmed to Lusa agency by João Massano, president of the Lisbon Regional Council (CRL) of the Bar Association (OA), who mentioned that he has been receiving messages from colleagues providing legal aid complaining that the registration system has been under maintenance since Monday, the date when the OA’s protest against the non-update of official defense fees began.
João Massano clarified that the issue with the schedules falls under the competence of the OA’s president, Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro, and that the CRL cannot do anything in this domain.
The CRL president considered it unfair that the payment for legal aid provided to the most disadvantaged citizens without financial means to hire a private lawyer has not been updated for about 20 years.
Lusa agency has already requested a comment from the OA’s president about the system being under maintenance, awaiting clarification on the situation, which is causing outrage among some lawyers who want to register for the schedules but are unable to do so because the system is still down.
On the other hand, there are also court-appointed lawyers who have expressed their indignation on social media about colleagues who are not joining the protest, harming these professionals’ fight for the update of official defense fees.
The OA, according to its president, wants an increase of 20 million euros in the next State Budget for official defenses and “a clear signal” from the Government that the revision of the fee table “is not to be further delayed.” They consider it a bad sign that the next negotiation meeting has been scheduled for October 9, the day before the budget is submitted to parliament.
The Ministry of Justice assured 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 those interested and the public opinion.”
