Portugal

Draft recommendation of the Council of Europe on the independence, efficiency and responsibilities of judges

QUESTIONS :

1. About Chapter I General aspects : scope of the recommendation,
judicial independence and the level at which it should be safeguarded.
Chapter II External independence : with government, parliament, medias and civil society.
Chapter III Internal independence : hierarchy, internal organization,
distribution of cases, professional organizations.
Chapter IV Councils for the judiciary.
Chapter V Independence, efficiency and resources : resources, alternative dispute resolution, court administration, assessment, international dimension.
Chapter VI Status of judges : selection and career, tenure, remuneration, training, assessment.
Chapter VII Duties and responsibilities : duties, liability
and disciplinary proceedings.
Chapter VIII Ethics of judges
•

ANSWERS :

The main points for PORTUGAL in the recommendation, with most impact are :

Chapter V Independence, Efficiency and Resources

Measures to be taken to assign non judicial tasks to other suitably qualified persons

Chapter VI Status of the judge

The possibility of the creation of an independent and competent authority drawn in substantial part from the judiciary (without prejudice to Chapter IV - Councils for the Judiciary) with power to make recommendations which the relevant appointing authority follows in practice.

Notes :
In Portugal, in fact, almost all the main principles and rules drawn are already adopted in the Portuguese constitutional and ordinary law. So, in our point of view, there will not be a great impact in the national rules or in the judicial practice.