Court officials, “tired” of promises, are returning to the streets today

Judiciary officers are demonstrating across the country this Saturday, saying they are “tired of broken promises” on issues such as the new statute, in a protest organized by the class and backed by unions.

In a note published by the organizer of the demonstrations taking place this Saturday in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Madeira and the Azores, judicial officials remind that their demands are decades old, but even so, despite successive and lengthy strikes since the beginning 2023, still to be fulfilled.

Increasing wages, including a procedural salary bonus, classifying careers at a higher level of complexity, better working conditions and hiring at least a thousand new judicial workers, a special pension regime and the provision of bonuses. Risk is among the demands that are bringing the class back to the streets in five different parts of the country almost simultaneously.

The demands, justice officials note in a note on the demonstrations, are “not new” and there is still “no solution”, but “only promises from the Ministry of Justice,” to which they attribute the proposal. review the judiciary’s statutes, introduced at the end of 2023 and heavily criticized by unions, which would “lead to a rift in their own careers.”

They also note that the career “lags behind” other careers in the justice system, namely the careers of registrars, who are now equivalent to senior technical specialists in government administration.

“Given the lack of a solution, we are tired of promising so much and not delivering anything, as well as being disrespectful when we know full well that without us justice will not work as well as it does when there are strikes, which can lead to, as it has already happened in the past, to delay many steps,” these professionals remind.

Court officials add that the complexity of the functions they perform requires that they also be considered senior technicians.

The class demonstration will take place this Saturday in Lisbon in front of the Assembly of the Republic at 14:00, in Porto, next to the Palace of Justice, at 14:30; in Faro, also next to the Palace of Justice, at 14:30, in Madeira, in the Palace of Justice in Funchal, at 14:30; and in the Azores, next to the Ponta Delgada Palace of Justice, at 13:30 (local time).

The demonstrations organized by the non-trade union movement have the support of trade unions: the Union of Judicial Workers (SFJ) and the Union of Justice Workers (SOJ) in publications on their official pages call on their members to take part in Saturday’s demonstrations and concentrations in favor of class unity.

After more than a year of strikes and demonstrations, judicial officers continue to be left without a review of their careers and without the approval of new laws – a process that began late last year and has since been suspended with the fall of the government and the schedule of elected legislative assemblies in March, with the Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro has already sent the conclusion of the negotiations to her successor in the portfolio.

However, the government’s proposal has drawn sharp criticism from two judicial unions.

Trade union structures criticized the attempt at career growth, among other things, on two aspects. He also came under fire from the judiciary, with judges criticizing the devaluation of careers; prosecutors warned of consequences for the autonomy of the government ministry; and the High Council of Justice pointed to the restoration of a “bureaucratic monster” in the courts and a violation of the principle of separation of powers.

Due diligence, overtime, partial and full strikes have led to thousands of court proceedings being postponed, court hearings adjourned and thousands of cases being delayed, prompting the justice minister to accuse unions of being “ravaged by justice” in the early months of the 2023 strike.