One year later, Manifesto of the 50 says that Justice is worse and reinforces call for political action

The Manifesto of the 50, which in May last year called for a “civic upheaval” in favor of justice reform, warned this Friday, October 31, that the scenario has worsened and renewed the call for political action made more than a year ago.

“Neither did the failures and violations reported diminish, nor did the political forces and institutions, despite some signs of understanding the gravity of the situation experienced, take concrete steps towards the necessary reform”, writes the civic movement created in May 2024.

In a new manifesto entitled “Justice reform is urgent” and signed by 11 personalities from different backgrounds, the Manifesto of 50 warns that, in several areas, the situation has worsened.

“There have been known cases of use, for years on end, of the most intrusive means in the sphere of personal freedom, without resulting in any credible suspicion, selective and interested leaks to the press continue to occur, resulting in summary convictions, in public opinion, of defenseless people”, they exemplify.

To illustrate the degradation of the state of Justice, the signatories also refer to the still unfinished processes involving former rulers and political agents, the marked “inoperability of administrative courts”, the “unacceptably high” economic cost of accessing justice or the persistence of “signs of closure, corporatism and inefficiency that hinder the action of institutions”.

“Justice remains in bad shape and political leaders are paralyzed”they regret, reaffirming, thestating that “the state of justice has a necessary and negative impact on the quality of our democracy”.

They then describe a slow Justice, in which the resources consumed are not reflected in the results obtained, in which inequalities in access persist and the violations of citizens’ rights, freedoms and guarantees multiply, which justifies the renewed call for reform.

Addressing the parliamentary groups, they ask that justice reform be constituted as a fundamental priority and that the President of the Republic, Government and parliament, “that they firmly and fully exercise the powers assigned to them by the Constitution and the laws”.

In the new manifesto, they also urge justice institutions to “exercise their own management responsibilities, to properly inform public opinion and to ensure the legality and timeliness of processes”.

The text is signed by the former presidents of parliament Augusto Santos Silva and Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, the former leader of the PSD, Rui Rio, the former ministers David Justino, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, the socialist Maria Manuel Leitão Marquês, the social democrats Mónica Quintela and Paulo Mota Pinto, the former judge advisor to the Constitutional Court Vital Moreira and the lawyers Daniel Proença de Carvalho and Rui Silva Leal.