The Presidents of the Supreme Administrative Court, the Administrative and Tax Courts and the President of the Bar Association warned on Tuesday about the lack of conditions in the Administrative and Tax Court (TAF) of Leiria.
Having visited the building where TAF Leiria is installed, which occupies the first and second floors of a building in a residential area, Maria Helena Canelas, President of the Administrative and Tax Courts, considered that “it is necessary that decisions be made in a very short term, since magistrates have long worked in very painful conditions that are not the minimum necessary to fulfill the sovereign function they perform.”
Meeting with a group of magistrates and judges from TAF and legal representatives, those in charge expressed their regret that the situation dragged on for years with no solution in sight. “The Ministry of Justice knows, but it must act. This is not the responsibility of the current minister, who has just taken office. This is not a problem of this government, but of several governments and political leaders,” the President suggested. Order of Lawyers, Fernanda de Almeida Pinheiro.
“This is urgent and urgent. We want quick justice and an adequate response, because we must ensure that procedural subjects have more opportunities to give such a response to the population and glorify the rule of law. The meager and meager conditions that exist in terms of the building do not properly accommodate the TAF of Leiria,” the lawyer stressed.
The President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Dulce Manuel Neto, emphasized the “very human warmth at TAF de Leiria”, despite the fact that “the means are so weak and insufficient”.
“Ministry of Justice through IGFEJ [Instituto de Gestão Financeira e Equipamentos da Justiça] knows about this situation, which has been considered for many years. There is already some fatigue not only among justices of the peace and lawyers, but also among the administrative apparatus, ”he stated.
Dulce Manuel Neto emphasized that the lack of a solution “is not inattention or lack of interest on the part of the leadership that is exerting pressure.” “But the solution to this problem is not in our hands. We want to alert civil society to be aware of what is at stake. We want the conditions to be more efficient, so that there is a real rule of law and democracy. cannot be forgotten in the country,” he added.
During the visit, we managed to make sure that there are offices without windows and with bars. Without emergency exits, TAF Leiria enters and leaves the building through the same door. Currently 18 judges and five prosecutors have three courtrooms and all (small) offices are shared.
Maria Helena Canelas warned that due to the lack of a place to hear witnesses, TAF has contacted the Regional Council of the Coimbra Bar Association to provide a room for lawyers via videoconference, and if necessary, a room for trials is provided at the Labor Court.
TAF Leiria was opened in January 2004 and has jurisdiction covering the districts of Leiria and Santarém.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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