Justice minister says ‘government does not name candidates’ for European prosecutor

The Minister of Justice reiterated this Wednesday that “the government is not nominating candidates” for the position of European Public Prosecutor and confirmed that she will hand over the floor to the Supreme Council of the Judiciary (CSM) and the Supreme Council of the State Ministry (CSMP).

Following the withdrawal of Judges Ivo Rosa and Rodrigues da Cunha, who were announced this Wednesday and who shortened the list of three candidates for prosecutor José Ranito (currently serving as Deputy Prosecutor in the European Prosecutor’s Office), Catarina Sarmento e Castro defended the that the selection process depends on the higher councils in the name of “autonomy and independence” in the selection of institutions.

“The government is limited to receiving the names of candidates. The government does not nominate candidates or verify requirements. This is a function of the councils by virtue of the autonomy and independence that the councils enjoy. Since it is supposed to be an appointment with full autonomy and independence, the law provides that this should be appointed by the councils,” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the closing session of the “LAB Justice — Innovation and Culture Program” at ISEG in Lisbon, the official recalled that Portugal must submit three names at the European level in order to meet what is set in the nomination for the position of European prosecutor, which is currently occupied by justice of the peace José Guerra.

Faced with the fact that the CSMP and CSM had previously refused to issue invitations to the position given the opportunity opened up by the opinion of the Attorney General’s Advisory Board (PGR) which recognized this scenario, Catarina Sarmento and Castro expressed the expectation that the two organizations would be able to resubmit the three names .

“I think that we will definitely find a solution. The councils will naturally provide for this,” the minister said, continuing: “We will definitely get representation. In any case, the European Prosecutor’s Office is fully operational and has mechanisms to deal with all these situations.”

As for a possible change in the law and the removal of the requirement for a minimum of three candidates, the official said that first it is necessary to apply to the councils, and noted that “it is impossible to remove a minimum of three candidates, because this restriction was imposed in the decision “Choice of the European Prosecutor”. However, there was no response to the hypothetical absence of at least three candidates less than three months before taking office.

“That’s the question. If no one wants to run for this post… In the end, the councils must indicate. Opinion says that the councils can proceed with the selection or nominate one or more candidates. So we are going to return the floor to the councils,” he concluded.

The debate over the absence of a minimum number of candidates to represent Portugal at the European Prosecutor’s Office escalated again this Wednesday when Judge Ivo Rosa was formally recalled shortly before his parliamentary hearing, adding to Judge Rodrigues da Cunha’s previous recall.

Therefore, the deputies of the Commission on European Affairs decided to postpone the hearing of the case of Prosecutor Jose Ranito, who is currently the only candidate for this post.