A single list, chaired by Paulo Lona, is running this Saturday in elections for the Union of Judges of the Prosecutor’s Office (SMMP), promising to protect these judges “from any interference, external or internal, that compromises them or tries to put them under conditions.”
Under the slogan “Independence, union and militancy,” prosecutor Paulo Lona, the current secretary general of the SMMP, is running to succeed still-president Adão Carvalho, who did not run again.
The list appointed lawyer Carlos Teixeira as secretary general.
Asked by Lusa whether this list represents continuity, Paulo Lona emphasized that it “integrates new people and some renewal,” combining magistrates with “trade union experience and knowledge of the functioning of the deputy and the Council Superior of the Deputy (CSMP).” “with older people who are new to the profession but who bring added value to the SMMP.
Regarding the goal of the SMMP to be at the “front line” of protecting the deputy from any internal or external interference, Paulo Lona recalled that the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucilia Gago, herself, at the last Congress of the SMMP, warned about attempts to infringe on the independence of the deputy.
In this area, the SMMP presidential candidate emphasized the importance of the “internal autonomy” of the deputy, considering that without this the external autonomy of this judiciary is at stake.
Paulo Lona’s list also states that he fights for the dignity of the judicial power of parliament, “not accepting its functionalization” and condemning “any intention to turn it into a choir of mere administrative agents that is limited to carrying out the orders of the hierarchy, conditioning investigations.” continuous”.
The list, which features Deputy Attorney General Alexandra Chicharo das Neves as a council member, also advocates the creation/creation of Departments of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DIAP) in the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Beja and Portalegre. or that is, where this specialized MP structure does not yet exist.
Improving the status of remuneration, the need for genuine financial autonomy of the MP, special training of judges, staff shortages, the importance of specialization of judicial officers who work in the secretariats of the MP, and the call for decisions made by Parliament. The PGR and CSMP are guided by the rule of law, transparency, independence and protection of judges, among other commitments on the list.
There are about 1,500 judge-deputies in the country, about 90% of whom are members of the SMMP union and can vote.