The bailiffs, who have been on an indefinite strike at work since January 10, are holding a rally in Lisbon this Wednesday to “show their outrage at the failure to satisfy the claims.”
Carlos Almeida, president of the Union of Judicial Officials (SOJ), told Lusa that there are three old demands at stake that have not yet been implemented by the Department of Justice, the first of which involves an increase in the number of employees, an issue that requires the opening of tickets by profession.
Despite Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento e Castro announcing a 200-man increase, the SOJ president counters that this number is clearly “not enough” due to a shortage of bailiffs.
According to Carlos Almeida, more than 1,500 bailiffs are needed to fulfill the envisaged legal framework, but even this number is below the actual needs of the courts. SOJ estimates that around 2,000 bailiffs are needed.
The second requirement that the MOJ must meet, according to the union leader, concerns the implementation of increases that expire in more than three years, with the MOJ having already informed the MOJ that these promotions are fundamental to the proper functioning of the courts.
SOJ’s third lawsuit concerns a requirement to include a procedural reinstatement addendum. The state budget for 2020 already provided funds for this purpose, but the government did not meet the budget forecast, with Justice Minister Franziska Van Dunem justifying at the time that such non-compliance was due to “a number of twists and turns”. This was announced by the head of SOJ.
Carlos Almeida assured Luza that the union would withdraw the indefinite strike announcement every day from 13:30 to 00:00 only if the government complied with the demands.
Meanwhile, this Wednesday, between 12:30 and 13:00, next to the Lisbon Petty Crime Court, on the Justice Campus, there will be a concentration of bailiffs who will publicly express “outrage” at their job situation and “provide information on dozens of defendants / detainees who are not heard every day and who are forced to return to the “dungeons” due to the ongoing strike.
According to SOJ, the bailiffs’ strike, which has been taking place every day since January 10, has already resulted in thousands of steps being postponed, namely with “detained/arrested citizens who end up seeing detention periods extended to the maximum legal limits or , as was also the case, released immediately, by order, without a hearing, as has already happened in some courts.”
SOJ also announced Thursday’s rally at the Palace of Justice in Leiria starting at 13:30.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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