Portugal is the 5th country in the European Union with the longest duration of litigation.

Portugal is the fifth member state of the European Union (EU) with the longest duration of proceedings in the courts of first and highest instances, as well as the slowest country in the community in terms of decisions by consumer protection authorities.

This data is included in the European Union (EU) Justice Indicators Table 2023, published this Thursday by the European Commission in Brussels, designed to monitor judicial reforms in member states on issues such as the efficiency, quality and independence of the judiciary. courts.

In terms of efficiency, one of the indicators analyzed is the length of proceedings, and in this area Portugal is the fifth worst EU Member State, with a total of 792 days for the first instance, 836 for the second instance and 261 for the second instance. Thirdly, according to the data for 2021.

Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Malta and Greece are ahead of Portugal in order determined by the court with the longest process in each member state.

In these “five member states that face problems related to the length of proceedings in the courts of first instance, the higher courts are working more efficiently,” the community executive notes in this year’s EU Justice Results Chart.

However, as far as Portugal is concerned, it is the worst country in the EU in terms of the average duration of administrative decisions by consumer protection authorities, only 837 days in 2021 and an average of 796.6 days between 2014 and 2021.

As for cases of corruption, namely bribery, according to data for 2021 in Portugal, they are considered on average 377 days.

In terms of the use of technology by courts and prosecutors, Portugal is the sixth EU country with the most digitalization of the judiciary, taking into account the results of 2022 regarding issues such as remote communication systems (such as video conferencing), electronic case management, automatic mailing, remote work of judges and others. court officials and the use of artificial intelligence applications.

Estonia, Germany, Austria, Spain and Poland are ahead of Portugal in this area of ​​digitalization.

In this 11th edition of the European Union Justice Table, an annual summary of comparative data on the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems in EU Member States, the European Commission concludes that, broadly across the community space, “the effectiveness of EU justice systems is improving, but the perception of judicial independence continues to be questioned.”

Launched in 2013, the EU Justice Assessment System, one of the tools, analyzes compliance with the rule of law.