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The president of the Illustrious Bar Association, Luís Menezes Leitão, defended that “an investigation must be carried out” before the Lisbon Court of Appeals by the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) in the context of the accusations against three judges of that court in the context of the Lex operation.
In statements to the Lusa agency, Luís Menezes Leitão stressed that “the situation is very serious and there may be many injured citizens”, for which he reiterated the need for the intervention of the CSM to “control all the processes in which the attacks have occurred. irregularities ”. .
“Respecting the presumption of innocence that exists in relation to all the accused, we are talking about a situation that will have occurred in the Criminal Section of one of the most important superior courts in our country. It is extremely serious and it is necessary to find out in what terms the decisions were made, who was harmed by them, in what terms the harmed can be corrected and compensated, ”said the president.
Menezes Leitão also confirmed that the people convicted in the cases tried by judges Rui Rangel, Fátima Galante and Luís Vaz das Neves can request an “appeal for review”, demonstrating that the sentence was “handed down in an irregular manner.”
This explanation of the president coincides with that of the president of the Association of Portuguese Judges, Manuel Soares, who explained to Lusa that the review of the processes “does not occur automatically” and that the intervening parties “have to request a review of the decision if they consider that this was unfair ”.
However, this only occurs “after the conviction of the accused”, in addition to being necessary “to invoke a fact that shows that the decision was unfair and there is an error in it,” said the judge.
To this, Menezes Leitão added that the Public Ministry itself, “as guarantor of legality” in the Portuguese judicial system, “can take this initiative”, but insisted on the need for the involvement of the Superior Council of the Judiciary and “even of the Ministry of Justice”. in the sense of “determining the conditions in which the court functioned.”
“It is a very big job and, in our opinion, it would not be only because of the initiative of the review appeal made by them. Because we think that the situation has reached such a seriousness that deeper measures will be necessary, “said the official.
The president also expressed concern about the image of the Portuguese justice system, which is “very affected by this news”, so that “the recovery of trust in justice should be a priority of political power.”
“Not only for the Government, which should have already come to clarify everything that happened, but also for the President of the Republic [Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa] while guaranteeing the regular functioning of the democratic institutions and the highest magistrate of the country ”.
Emphasizing that he understands the situation of the separation of powers, Menezes Leitão said that the head of state “must act and speak about the situation that is occurring in one of the most important courts” in the country.
“What we have is a very serious suspicion about the operation of one of the most important courts in the country, which discredits the trust of citizens in justice. What I know is that the Superior Council of the Judiciary carried out an investigation into the distribution of cases in the Lisbon Court of Appeals, but the news that has been made public goes far beyond the distribution of cases, “said the president.
Seventeen defendants in the Lex operation, which involves judges Rui Rangel, Fátima Galante and Vaz das Neves and the president of Benfica, among others, were accused today of corruption, abuse of power, usurpation of functions, tax fraud and money laundering of money.
A note from the Attorney General’s Office indicates that three of the 17 defendants were magistrates of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, “one of whom maintains the status of judge, although retired,” alluding to the former president of that court, Luis Vaz das Neves .
This process deals with the crimes of passive and active corruption due to an illicit act, improper receipt of advantages, abuse of power, usurpation of functions, falsification of documents, tax fraud and money laundering.
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