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In the same text, the CEO underlines that “It is up to the Government to choose the candidates to represent Portugal in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office”.
However, to guarantee impartiality and impartiality in this election, the Government presented a bill to the Assembly of the Republic – which the Assembly of the Republic approved – assigning independent bodies to the Superior Councils of the Public Ministry and the Judiciary. in the management of the Judiciary, the powers to select the names of the magistrates to be appointed by the Government, by means of an ordered list, ”the note continues.
“The Superior Council of the Public Ministry approved an ordered list, with the lawyer José Eduardo Guerra in the first place,” the statement also indicated.
The selected elements were also heard in a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic and later by a Selection Committee appointed by the Council of the European Union, which groups together the governments of all the member states ”.
“The opinion of this Commission, which is not binding, did not produce any basis or argument that would justify on the part of the Government the alteration of the choice made by the Superior Council of the Public Ministry”, continues the Prime Minister, to add that, “at the end of last week, it was reported that in the communication, in November 2019, of this designation two lapses without relevancealso for the selection process “.
Furthermore, the Curriculum Vitae of the proposed candidate, which appears in the file submitted to the Council of the European Union, does not contain inaccuracies ”.
Costa’s office says Francisca Van Dunem “asked the Portuguese ambassador to the European Union to formally correct those lapses, which was done.”
“It was also found that the lapses originated in a note prepared by the General Directorate of Justice Policy and communicated to Reper and with mere knowledge for filing in the Office of the Minister of Justice”.
The ten-point statement ends by recalling that “the Minister of Justice accepted today the resignation of the Director General for Justice Policy.”
Resignation
The case of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office prompted a resignation on Monday. The general director of Justice Policy, Miguel Romão, made his position available and the minister accepted the exit.
However, in a note published in the site From the General Directorate, the director of resignation made it clear that the information sent to Brussels on the prosecutor José Guerra was sent following instructions received that were fully known by Francisca Van Dunem’s office. Information that came to deny the ruler.
OR release in question was later withdrawn site Directorate General for Justice Policy.
Last Saturday in interview à RTP, the guarantee minister does not know the content of the letter sent by this service.
The resigning director adds that he only made the position available because the case affects the reputation of the service he directs.
Miguel Romão guarantees that he had no responsibility in sending this decisive letter that contained three false arguments.
A letter that involved the replacement of the candidate chosen by the international panel by the candidate chosen by the Portuguese Government.
Prosecutor José Guerra admitted that the information sent to Brussels about his resume is wrong.
Despite being criticized by various political leaders and even by the President of the Republic, the Minister of Justice does not resign and speaks of an attempt to “poison political life.”
What Marcelo says
Shortly before the publication of the Prime Minister’s statement, the President of the Republic even affirmed that António Costa had told him that he would maintain confidence in the Minister of Justice.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke during a debate for the presidential elections with PCP opponent João Ferreira, on TVI, about the controversy surrounding the election of José Guerra as European prosecutor.
“I come here [para o debate], he learned from the Prime Minister, who informed me, that a note would be published reaffirming his confidence in the Minister of Justice. So the situation at this point is this: after all this, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his confidence in the Minister of Justice.“declared the Head of State.
Marcelo stressed that, under the terms of the Constitution, “the president cannot remove ministers without being proposed by the prime minister, whether or not it is preceded by the resignation of the minister.”
“The president has no other opinion than to respect the Constitution in this regard”, I would insist on.
Asked if he would seek to know more about this case, he replied: “Obviously, I have already sought to know and the answer that the Prime Minister gave is this: maintain trust in the Minister of Justice.”
Fake data
Last week it was reported that, In a letter sent to the European Union, the Government presented false information about José Guerra, appointed European preferred prosecutor, after Ana Carla Almeida was considered by a committee of experts as the most suitable candidate for the position.
In that same letter, José Guerra is referred to as Deputy Attorney General of Justice, a position he does not occupy.. The letter also mentions that the prosecutor had a participation of “investigative and accusatory leadership” in the UGT process, which is equally false.
After the Ministry of Justice assumed these erroneous data as “lapses”, Minister Francisca Van Dunem said, in an interview with RTP on Saturday night, that she could continue in the Government after the controversy, considering that there was a “profound blister”. unfair “from a” strictly transparent “situation.
The minister also said that she “did not know until now” the letter sent by the services of the Ministry of Justice to the Permanent Representation of Portugal in the European Union (REPER), and that she insisted on naming it as a working note and not as a letter..
On July 27, Portuguese magistrate José Guerra was appointed a European national prosecutor in the Office of the European Union (EU) Prosecutor, an independent body for the fight against fraud.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is an independent body of the EU, responsible for investigating, prosecuting and filing charges and supporting them in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of crimes that harm the financial interests of the Union (e.g. fraud, corruption, VAT fraud over 10 million euros).
