The TC President foresees that the Organization’s task of transparency will be “challenging”.

The President of the Constitutional Court (CC) considered this Wednesday that “the task of the Organization to ensure transparency will not be easy” and refused that this body “puts an end to corruption” or “fraud and abuse.”

“The task that awaits you will not be easy. Especially when it comes to creating something new. And, above all, not in the area in which you are going to work, and in the current context”, said Joao Kaupers when deciding on the transparency of the management of the organization.

This Wednesday, Ana Raquel Moniz took over as President of the Organization for Transparency, with Monica Correia and Pedro Miguel Nunez as members.

The ceremony was held at the Ratton Palace in Lisbon and was attended by President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Assembly of the Republic Augusto Santos Silva and Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro. .

The Transparency Organization, approved in 2019 and pending since then, will oversee uniform declarations of income, assets and interests of political and high government officials.

In his speech, the President of the TC stated that “it is foreseen that the paradigm shift will cause doubts, hesitations, errors and omissions on the part of the declarants”, emphasizing that “at this stage, pedagogical actions of the Transparency Organization will be necessary, since “the majority of the declarants will try, as they are doing it today, keep the law.”

João Kaupers also felt that “the expectation that the Essence for Transparency will awaken is understandable, but largely the result of not knowing its attributions.”

“For some, it will be of little use, because it will be engaged in nothing more than obtaining and storing information, for others it will be useful for almost everything: it will finally put an end to corruption, peddling in influence, fraud and abuse, in a word, to redeem the sins of the world,” he listed, pointing out that “neither is right.”

The President of the TC argued that “the transparency that gave the name to the new organization is not an end in itself, but rather a valuable tool, but not the only one, for achieving goals important to the rule of decision, respected legality, impartiality, administrative integrity and morality.”

“The core function of the Transparency Organization will develop within a framework in which two values ​​converge, on the one hand, the strict and punctual application of the law, on the other hand, respect for the rights of people, of all people. he defended, stating that he was confident that the leadership of the organization would know how to “smartly, serenely and intelligently balance these two values.”

The judge reiterated that the management was projected to be able to take up residence in Coimbra at the Grylos Palace after the completion of the first stage of the building’s re-qualification, but pointed out that it would be a “precarious occupation”. “because it is not “supported by any legal document capable of protecting the interests of the Court and the University.”

“It is believed that the government will not fail to do its part in relation to the building, which will allow the facility to be fully installed,” he stressed.

The President of the TC also recalled the process of establishing the Transparency Authority, given that “in its part”, namely “the design and operation of an electronic platform for the registration and processing of unified declarations of property and income”, the court “took the necessary steps” and rejected criticism that “it took too long”.