The Supreme Council of the Magistracy (CSM) expressed the “greatest reservations” about the constitutionality of the age restriction for the application of pardons of sentences and amnesty for crimes and offenses related to the Pope’s visit to Portugal.
According to an opinion to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, in view of the government’s proposal in the context of World Youth Day (WYD), the administrative and disciplinary body of the judges pointed out that the applying for amnesty for young people between 16 and 30 years old who have committed crimes and offenses foreseen until June 19 “this is (affirmative) discrimination based on age, which is not properly justified”.
“Differentiation of treatment between people who have committed identical crimes solely on the basis of their age at the time of their assignment, even if supported by the age range of the main recipients of an event, raises the greatest concerns about its constitutional conformity”, can be read in the document, which emphasizes that working hours “are not a constitutional value that justifies discrimination against people”.
The bill – which will be discussed in parliament on Tuesday – is about a a one-year pardon for all sentences up to eight years’ imprisonment. There’s one more amnesty scheme for administrative offenses with a maximum fine of up to 1,000 euros and the offenses the penalty of which does not exceed one year of imprisonment or a fine of 120 days.
Despite acknowledging the freedom of political options for the elaboration of the diploma, the CSM recalled that this discretion “is not unlimited” and that it must respect constitutionally provided principles.
“We may be faced with a situation of discrimination based on age, without any objective justification, which will hardly pass the review of the principle of equality enshrined in Article 13 of the Constitution,” the body says.
In addition to the age criterion in the amnesty, the legitimacy of which has already raised doubts among constitutionalists, the Supreme Council of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Portuguese Prisoner Support Association, the CSM also believed that other aspects of the proposed law should be ” improved”.
For example, one of the targeted standards is the absence of the crime of drug trafficking under aggravated circumstances in the definition of crimes excluded from the scope of the amnesty.
The CSM also warned of the risk of “serious difficulties and embarrassment, causing serious limitations in the functioning of the courts”, due to the need to reformulate the legal combination of punishments when there are crimes that are amnestied and others that are excluded from the scope of this diploma.
“The solution adopted in law will create enormous problems in legal practice,” warns the CSM, which assumes that “hundreds or thousands of cumulative hearings will be held with a view to reformulating the legal combinations, in the midst of during the judicial vacation period”.
The proposed law contains exceptions to pardons and amnesty, which do not benefit, namely those who have committed crimes of murder, infanticide, domestic violence, assault, violation of serious physical integrity, female genital mutilation, violation of qualified physical integrity, forced marriage, kidnapping, against sexual freedom and self-determination, extortion, discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence, influence peddling, money laundering or corruption.
Source: DN
