A report out today that reviews justice systems in the EU has concluded that Portugal has come top in the time wasting stakes as its justice system beats all other members for the average period taken to wrap up court cases.
The time taken to resolve the civil cases analysed between 2010 and 2012 was so great that the classification for Portugal was almost off the scale with members of the public having to undergo waits of between 900 and 1,100 days before cases were concluded.
Perversely, the Portuguese system scored well on computerisation, so well in fact that it topped the chart on various of the parameters used but this seems to be of little benefit to the public.
Again, on the plus side the system in Portugal was judged as ‘having independence.’
The ‘Justice in the Union Scoreboard’ showed that in 2013 no judge was transferred to other functions without his or her consent, except due to disciplinary action or reorganisation. This is used as a sign of health in any justice system.
This report is along the same lines at the February 2015 interim findings of Gabriela Knaul, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, who concluded that Portugal’s justice system was "slow, expensive and difficult to comprehend," where the poor are marginalised, the courts are underfunded and for legal aid cases, "it can take up to a year for a person to get a lawyer."
The new computer system to manage casework more efficiently was launched last September and when it started to function six weeks later may well have speeded up cases to the relief of the Minister of Justice Paula Teixeira whose job looked very shaky for a while.
A well run and efficient justice system is one of the key parameters that foreign investors look at when deciding where to set up shop. Currently, with Portugal at the very bottom of the list for timely resolution of cases, many will be opting for other EC countries.