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The opening of the Judicial Year is a solemn ceremony, attended by the main personalities of the national judicial life, and is invested with a double purpose.

On the one hand, it aims to provide public testimony of the essential importance of Justice in the framework of the State’s sovereign powers, paying due tribute to those who contributed towards the prestige of the judicial system and also to those who, every day, dispense the Law in our courts, at times under difficult and very demanding conditions.

On the other hand, the opening of the Judicial Year must be a privileged moment for a reflection on the Justice that the Portuguese aim to have – and which is manifestly not that which currently exists.

A ceremony such as this cannot be just a mere act of etiquette nor just an empty routine.

The Portuguese would not understand if it were so, such is the notorious perception they have – and which they test on a daily basis – of the undeniable problems that affect the carrying out of Justice in our Country.

A «crisis of Justice» has been alluded to for long.

And, in effect, the symptoms of such a crisis are various and undeniable: there is a very generalized lack of confidence of the citizens in their judicial system, as are frequently the attitudes and public statements of people who are responsible for Justice and who contribute nothing towards the prestige of this pillar of the democratic Rule of Law.

It is ascertained, in addition, that Justice is pervaded by disputes that are frequently carried out in public, a practice that is harmful for everybody, especially for all the judicial officers as a whole.

It also happens that the relations of the judicial system with the media, marked by frequent infringements of judicial secrecy and some ambition for protagonism in the media, has not been adequate to preserve the dignity of the judicial power or of the magistracy.

To these problems, that are now assuming a cultural characteristic, other functional issues are added connected with the efficiency of the judicial system.

There are areas where the dysfunctions are perfectly identified, as is the case with criminal investigation, executive actions or abeyances in fiscal jurisdiction without, after so much time gone past, any major intervention having taken place susceptible to put an end to a status that degrades the image of the institutions, prejudices citizens’ rights and sorely affects the operation of our economy and the capacity to attract foreign investment.

From a cultural point of view, Justice requires credibility.

In an operational perspective Justice, to be just, demands effectiveness and swiftness.

The crisis of Justice is now joined by the justice of the crisis.

The judicial system itself is also conditioned by the Country’s economic, financial and social crisis, up to a measure that nobody can ignore.

The Justice of the crisis has to be a Justice adapted to the Country’s current economic and social situation, in a jurisprudence that correctly considers the realities. At a time when the Portuguese are going through difficulties that are often dramatic, Justice has to be, more than ever, an effective justice.

Justice has to reinforce its institutional authority and timely comply with the imperative of «stating Law» in the various situations arising in the course of life.

A major reform of Justice that has not essentially been carried out is thus necessarily required.

It is not the duty of the President of the Republic to define the precise contours or the material measures for the reform that now seems urgent and which is, at the same time, a cultural and functional reform. But it is the President’s duty to contribute by stating that the assumptions on which the reform must be based have to be clearly put forward.

As such, it is essential that the personalities responsible for this sector assume unequivocally that a major intervention in the judicial system cannot be carried out in an environment of institutional tension and conflict between the various officers of the Judiciary

It is absolutely necessary that the tensions, which are visible, between the judicial and the political powers, must be overcome, and both must understand that this is not a moment for confrontation but for patriotic cooperation.

No judicial operator can be dispensed from the change that doubtlessly corresponds to one of the main reforms currently required in Portugal. No actor in the system can be placed aside or have the idea that he can exclude himself from complying with an imperative of citizenship. A responsible attitude is expected from everybody.

Contrary to what happens in other spheres of action of the State, the causes of the Justice crisis are entirely our responsibility and their resolution depends exclusively from us, not from the intervention of foreign bodies.

If, on the one hand, this conclusion means that the changes to be entered into may be easier and swifter, on the other hand the absence of external encouragement could aggravate the trend towards immobility or to the postponement of the issues.

In short, the first assumption for an authentic reform of Justice is based upon the idea that it is not possible to change the status quo in a climate of conflict or tension.

A second assumption for change corresponds to a simple notion: it is not possible to reform Justice against those that, in their day to day court activities, will have to apply the measures adopted by the legislator.

The trend of the legislator to act erratically, giving way to occasional impulses, in an experimental rationale that brings into our juridical system components of instability and unpredictability must be definitely abandoned. The certainty of the Law is not compatible with legislative experimentalism.

If it is not possible to reform Justice in conflict with the officers of the judiciary, this does not mean that reform must be exclusively carried out in line with the beliefs of those officers.

It is the political powers which have been democratically legitimized that, through transversal party political consensus, must lead the process of change.

But it must do so hearing the Judicial operators, instead of ignoring those that possess the knowledge of experience obtained in the day to day judicial operation. No judicial reform for which success is intended can be carried out without taking into account the contribution of all the juridical professions.

A third assumption for reform thus corresponds to the need, without giving way to corporate demands, for reform proposals to be put forward in connection with those that, due to their close connection with the issues of judicial life, have to take an active part in the changes that must be carried out.

A fourth assumption for the reform of Portuguese Justice emerges from the above.

This, in order to effectively take place, must be internally accepted by the officers of the judiciary, rather than imposed externally by the political powers.

It is imperative that the judicial operators, all of them, understand the urgency of the change. Without this understanding there will be little or no value in changing basic legislation and proceed with successive legislative changes that, due to their frequency, thicken the complexity of our juridical system in excess of any reasonable limits.

In order that the officers of the judiciary understand the reach and the rationale of their function in contemporary democracies it is imperative that they take into consideration the nature of their own legitimacy.

It is not a direct democratic legitimacy, arising from popular vote, but another and not any less important type of legitimacy: the legitimacy of exercising. It is how they exercise their duties that magistrates become legitimate where citizens are concerned.

However, the legitimacy of exercising is particularly demanding and carries great responsibility. Initially because it requires a very particular regard for the deeper meaning of judicature to administer justice on behalf of the people.

The legitimacy of exercising also demands that magistrates conquer the respect of their fellow citizens, which presupposes an attitude of civic humility, of verbal containment and personal dignity.

Justice, in order to be credible in the eyes of the people, apart from the independence, objectivity and quality of its decisions, must show responsibility as to the behaviour of its main protagonists.

Trust in the operation of Justice arises from public opinion’s daily perception, through following and hearing the public interventions of its highest officers. This is the reason for the importance that the protagonists of the judicial system must place, when issuing statements, on their contribution towards dignifying their position.

Justice is also an expression of the State’s sovereignty. The training and the actions of magistrates must have in mind this connection to the demanding exercise of the public mission of state sovereignty, and is not condoling with choices that undervalue this essential principle.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As President of the Republic, I am the first who cannot conform to the current status of Portuguese justice.

Legislative changes arise repeatedly, trust is placed, perhaps excessively, in the virtues of new technologies, but we frequently forget that a programme of judicial reform must start from an objective diagnosis of the issues, which can only be carried out in an environment of appeasement of tensions and of concentration on what is essential.

And what is the essential are the receivers of judicature, the individuals, the people on behalf of whom justice is administered.

Citizens do not greatly trust their judicial system and companies regard it as a factor that paralyses economic activity.

When appealing to the congregation of wills and to the union of efforts for a major reform and a change in Justice I wish to make known my deep regard and respect for the judicial operators.

It is precisely by paying tribute to the nobility of the function that I understood it my duty, as President of the Republic, to incite politicians and judicial officers to undertake this major and urgent reform.

I am certain that, with the drive and dedication of our magistrates and other judicial officers, we will be able to conquer this challenge.

Thank you.