The Justice Minister on Thursday insisted that there was no shortage of paper in the courts and that there was only a decline in ‘stocks’, underlining that despite the practice of centralized purchases, authorization was nevertheless given to the districts for individual purchases.
“There was no shortage of paper, the ‘stocks’ were the lowest,” the Justice Minister, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, reiterated on Thursday on the sidelines of the opening of the Congress of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary (CSM), which runs until Friday in Vila Nova de Gaia, commenting on the news reporting the lack of paper for printing and trials in the courts.
The minister’s statements came after the Justice Department issued a statement late Wednesday evening reiterating the same idea.
Catarina Sarmento e Castro maintained that there was no shortage of paper and that despite the management of centralized paper purchases for the entire national territory, with subsequent distribution according to the expressed needs, there is management power in the regions.
“The provinces then have the power to manage. We hold meetings with the provinces, we have an open channel with the provinces, who carry out this management. [de falta de papel], then there is an indication for the district to exercise its autonomy. That is done, this instruction has been given to the district. […] Once the Directorate-General [da Administração da Justiça] with knowledge of this matter, it could be purchased separately in each of the regions,” the minister said on Thursday.
Catarina Sarmento e Castro also reiterated that there were no instructions for cutting prints in the courts.
‘We neither. The government cannot give orders to magistrates in terms of what they will or will not do,” he said.
The Justice portfolio holder also added that “a new contract is in the works”.
“We will always continue to discuss issues of the international market. It is an issue that does not only affect justice,” he warned, after already pointing out the difficulties of supply in the markets due to the lack of raw materials and materials. .
The Justice Department admitted in a statement that there were problems with the management of the ‘stocks’ of paper in the courts and pointed to the shortage of raw materials, but said the districts had never been given an instruction to stop printing. procedural documents.
In a note sent to the editors after it was reported that the lack of paper was delaying 20 civil cases in the Braga Court, the Justice Department recalled that price fluctuations “have increased the difficulty of determining the base price of the proceedings to be launched.” and it also leads to the conclusion of short-term contracts (no more than two months), as “competitors are not interested in longer-term contracts, which would tie them to unit prices that would quickly become misaligned”.
He also said that the supply of paper “has not been continuous” and underlined the importance of good management of existing stocks to “ensure transition periods between contracts”.
This Thursday, after referring in her speech at the inaugural session of the Congress to the reinforcement of the Justice resources allocated in the proposed government budget for 2023 (OE203), the Minister was asked about the condition of some Justice Buildings, as he had stated that ongoing investigations are needed, despite following up on others that already exist.
“If things don’t evolve, some may get worse, so we have to redo this research. The problem sometimes is the lack of maintenance of things. If buildings are not maintained, they will deteriorate and not all of them deteriorate at the same rate. We not only do a survey, we also define priorities”he said, emphasizing the emphasis on prison services, with 12 visits to prisons in six months.
There are also ongoing needs assessments related to human resources, and news about the hiring of bailiffs will be announced soon.
“We are currently in talks with Finance about the planning we have made and we expect to have more news on this subject soon,” said the minister.
However, when she revealed “satisfied” that the OE2023 proposal is considering a significant increase in resources for the area of Justice, Catarina Sarmento e Castro said that “all ministers naturally want more resources to meet the needs”, but the act of governing implies “making good choices”.
Still questioned about the shortcomings and shortcomings identified in the most recent report of the Commission for Supervision and Inspection of Educational Centers, the Minister, as she had already done in the opening speech of the Congress, signaled changes in this area, including legislative, who should not go through organic changes, but through the reinforcement of human resources, namely specialized technicians, even if they have not committed themselves.
Source: DN
