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Excellencies

Mr. Justice Fernando Pinto Monteiro assumes today the responsibilities of Attorney General of the Republic, at a particularly demanding time for our Justice system.

Although at times somewhat exaggerated, a sense of crisis has arisen in the juridical institutions. In such circumstances it is necessary above all to define proactive policies, congregate efforts, establish platforms of consensus and commence working, with the firm conviction that it is possible to provide Portuguese Justice with an image of rigour, greater credibility, effectiveness and quality.

The Justice system, notwithstanding the many alterations sustained in its structure and configuration, has not yet assimilated the demands of a complex society, of an economy stamped by European integration and by a new culture created by globalization.

In view of the contradictions which simultaneously demand greater security and a higher respect for human rights, justice acquires a real strategic dimension, with a mission to create stability and obtain the confidence of the people.

As such, justice cannot but constitute a priority in the concerns of all the sovereign institutions. Immediately upon taking office I established, as one of the crucial challenges of our future, the need for an extended political entente to create the required conditions for the strengthening of the credibility and effectiveness of the justice system.

I heard all the judicial operators and their representative bodies concerning the current state of institutional, structural and organizational blockage, which had to be overcome to ensure a system of justice with quality and effectiveness.

To all I underlined that a programme of change adapted to the conditions of the Country would only be viable if discussed within a climate of responsible dialogue and decided in the proper political seat.

It now pertains to the competent sovereign institutions, specifically to Parliament, to develop and seek new models and solutions to reduce the current material and procedural constrictions, without affecting the rights, liberties and guarantees of a democratic Rule of Law.

Honourable Attorney General

It is in this complex frame of change of paradigm and reforms of the Justice system that Your Excellency is going to direct the Office of Public Prosecution, as an autonomous and responsible magistracy in the top echelon, through the exercise of penal action, and having to ensure, in the name of the principles shaping the Rule of Law, the independence and the exemption of criminal investigation. Since the law is the same for all, it must be equably applied to all.

Your Excellency will be aware on how to convey to the Country the security of a Public Prosecution Office, simultaneously employed in the defence of the law and in the effectiveness of its duties, which are expected to be exercised with the demands of Statecraft, and with the responsibility which requires discreteness in action and visibility in results.

The challenges which are today placed to the Attorney General carry the stamp of excessive visibility. In a democracy of opinion, the public dimension of the position of Attorney General cannot but attract special attention, it behoving Your Excellency to find the time and the means which are adequate to the justified wish of public clarification, with respect for the existing legitimate interests.

Your Excellency, Honourable Attorney General, has enviable professional accomplishments in your long career as a judiciary Magistrate, with a deep knowledge of acting as a judge in all instances, to which is associated a sharp sense of social realities.

As a citizen and Magistrate, Your Excellency has already shown independence, competence, dedication to the public cause and an extended vision of judicial issues, a number of characteristics which specifically qualify you for the high office in which you have now been installed.

Your Excellency, Honourable Attorney General, will have the institutional backing of all the sovereign bodies and, particularly, the confidence of the President of the Republic.

Lastly, I want to demonstrate to Dr. José Souto de Moura the public recognition of the Portuguese State for the dedication, dignity and independence which he, as a distinct Magistrate, performed the duties of Attorney General in a particularly difficult and complex period of Portuguese justice.