The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this Monday vetoed two parliamentary decrees amending the statutes of the Bar Association and the Nurses Association, after hearing the presidents of the respective countries.
The head of state announced these vetoes in two notes published on the official website of the President of the Republic on the Internet.
The two vetoed decrees are part of a package of changes to the statutes of professional orders approved by the Assembly of the Republic on October 13, voting in favor of the PS.
On December 7, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa vetoed two other decrees in the package amending the statutes of the Order of Engineers and the Order of Architects, and promulgated a decree amending the statutes of the Order of Pharmacists.
In a note to the decree amending the Statutes of the Bar, which was vetoed after being heard by President Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro, the President of the Republic highlights “the reduction of the internship period from 18 to 12 months, when, according to the decree, in the entire European Union there are only three states -members out of 27 have internships of the same or shorter duration.”
“In addition, with regard to the remuneration for internships, the provisions of the decree deviate from what is established in Law No. 12/2023, without provision for a mechanism of public co-financing in cases where it is justified, which, within certain limits, may constitute, if there is none , a barrier to access to the profession,” adds the head of state.
On the other hand, according to Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, “the opportunity now given to other non-lawyers to perform acts different from those of lawyers appears to create the possibility of unfair competition, since these professionals are not associated, in particular, with duties, disciplinary measures, payment of order fees and the obligations of independence, prohibition of conflict of interest and publicity that are imposed on lawyers.”
Regarding the decree amending the Statute of the Order of Nurses, which he vetoed after hearing the President Ana Rita Cavaco, the President of the Republic considers that “it does not ensure the desired functional complementarity of the medical professions, and the practice must be carried out in a complementarity in the best interests of the beneficiaries without providing assistance in a piecemeal manner.”
In a letter addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, regarding this decree, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza states that this position was conveyed to him by the President of the Order of Nurses.
“In addition, the law does not seem to protect the public interest and does not contribute to the smooth functioning of institutions and, in particular, the National Health Service (NHS),” the head of state notes.
In justifying both vetoes, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasizes that he took this decision “without prejudice to the fulfillment of the obligations of the Portuguese state to the European Union under the Program for Recovery and Resilience (PRR), which are not in doubt.” and taking into account the difficulties inherent in the legislative process” leading to the approval of these decrees.
These two decrees will be returned to the Assembly of the Republic approximately one month before its dissolution, which is to be issued by the President of the Republic on January 15th.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.