In a comment sent to Lusa about the manifesto signed by 50 personalities from various sectors in defense of a "civic shock" that would end the "worrying inertia" of political agents regarding the Justice reform, the ministry of Rita Júdice points the finger at the previous Executive and says that it is "working hard to try to solve these problems, from the first minute".

"The Ministry of Justice is very concerned about the situation in which the previous government left justice. With strikes that have lasted for 15 months. With the lack of magistrates. With the lack of judicial officers. With the courts where it rains", the comment states.

In a brief overview of the sector, the ministry also highlights the degradation of prisons and considers that there has been "a lack of investment" in Justice in the last eight years, with a negative impact "on all citizens and companies".

A group of 50 personalities from various quadrants made an appeal on Thursday to the President of the Republic, the Government and the parliament so that initiatives are taken that, respecting the independence of the courts, the autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the guarantees of legal defense, the "bottlenecks and dysfunctions that have long undermined its effectiveness and its public legitimacy" are resolved.

The petition is signed by, among others, the former presidents of the parliament Augusto Santos Silva, Ferro Rodrigues and Mota Amaral, the former leaders of the PSD and the CDS, Rui Rio and Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, the former ministers Leonor Beleza, David Justino, Fernando Negrão, António Vitorino, José Vieira da Silva, António Barreto, Correia de Campos, Alberto Costa, Pinto Ribeiro, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues and the former president of the Constitutional Court João Caupers.

Admiral Melo Gomes and General Pinto Ramalho, the former governor of the Bank of Portugal Vitor Constâncio and the judge-counselor Teresa Pizarro Beleza, also sign the document, as well as Isabel Soares, Manuel Sobrinho Simões, Álvaro Beleza and the social democrats Paulo Mota Pinto, André Coelho Lima and Pacheco Pereira.

"The prolonged passivity in the face of this iniquitous reality has allowed us to reach the painful limit of seeing the action of the Public Prosecutor's Office generate the fall of two parliamentary majorities resulting from recent elections, despite the fact that, in both cases, in its first intervention, the courts did not uphold and even contradicted the prosecutor's narrative," they argue.

"To make matters worse, the country continued to witness the inconceivable, when, after five long months had passed since the prime minister had resigned, following the PGR's statement, and his cessation of duties, the Public Prosecutor's Office did not even deign to inform him about the subject of the inquiry or summon him for any procedural diligence. In addition to constituting undue interference in political power, these episodes are also not in accordance with the requirements of the democratic Rule of Law," they argue.

Among the problems identified, the signatories mention "the recurrent breaches of judicial secrecy, with the active participation of a large part of the media" that "give rise to popular trials, boycott the investigation and grossly trample on the most elementary rights of many citizens, cruelly penalizing them for the rest of their lives, even when they end up being judicially acquitted".

A reform is necessary that, although not disregarding the legitimate aspirations of the agents of Justice, is not designed to suit the corporate interests of the various operators of the system, but that has the citizen and the defense of the democratic Rule of Law as the central axis of its concerns," they say.

Leia Também: Justiça? PS pede que trabalho do Governo anterior não seja "revertido" (Portuguese version)