The PS proposes to include in the Constitution another exception to the right to liberty to allow isolation of people in case of health emergency, determined by the health authority, guaranteeing an urgent appeal to justice.
In the PS constitutional revision project released this Friday, an entry has been added to number 3 of Article 27 of the Constitution that lists the exceptional situations in which there are “deprivation of liberty, for the time and under the conditions determined by law”🇧🇷
In the new section, the PS proposes that this could also be done for “separation of a person with a serious infectious disease or in respect of whom there is a well-founded fear of spreading a serious disease or infection, determined by the health authority, by reasoned decision, for the time strictly necessary, in the event of an emergency on the field of public health, with the guarantee of an urgent appeal to the judicial authority”🇧🇷
This is the solution of the socialists, so that people can be isolated, as happened during the covid-19 pandemic, without resorting to the state of emergency or martial law, regimes enshrined in the constitution, without which “the sovereign bodies, jointly or individually, cannot suspend the exercise of rights, freedoms and guarantees”🇧🇷
These two regimens, designed to “cases of actual or threatened aggression by foreign forces, of serious threats or disturbances to the democratic legal order or of public disasters”imply a proposal from the President of the Republic, an authorization from the Assembly of the Republic, with consultation with the Government, and have a maximum duration of fifteen days, except in case of war, but they can be extended.
Article 27 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to liberty and security, already contains several exceptions in number 3 in which deprivation of liberty is permitted, such as red-handed arrest, preventive detention, imprisonment or other coercive measures under judicial supervision, the subjection of minors to measures of protection, assistance or education in appropriate institutions or the hospitalization of people with mental disorders.
PS wants to enshrine gender identity and remove the word race from the Constitution
The PS includes gender identity in the principle of equality in its constitutional revision project, deletes the word race and replaces it with ethnicity, and places the eradication of poverty as one of the fundamental tasks of the state.
These are three of the proposals that are part of the socialists’ objective to revise the constitution in order to make the constitution of the republic more “progressive” and adapt it to the realities of the present.
As the secretary-general of the PS, António Costa, had already pointed out on Thursday at a meeting of the Political Commission of his party, the replacement of the expression “human rights” by the more extensive version in terms of gender “human rights” is defended .
In the article on the fundamental tasks of the state, the socialists propose to include gender equality and ties with Portuguese communities abroad.
“All citizens have the same social dignity and are equal before the law. No one can be privileged, benefited, harmed, deprived of any right or exempt from any duty because of origin, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, race, language, territory origin, religion, political or ideological beliefs, education, economic status, social status or sexual orientation”is the proposed wording for Article 13, where the word ‘race’ appears.
The PS also proposes an amendment referring to the “right to personal integrity”, adding the defense of psychological integrity: “The moral, physical and psychological integrity of human beings is inviolable”.
In addition to equality between men and women, the PS also wants to include objectives such as sustainable development, the eradication of poverty, the protection and strengthening of cultural heritage and the fight against climate change in the fundamental tasks of the State.
The same article also refers to territorial cohesion, taking into account the specific development needs of the interior.
The PS also intends to amend Article 36.º on family, marriage and descent so that number 2, which refers to the law regulating the requirements and consequences of marriage and its dissolution, by death or divorce, is extended to the “scheme applicable to persons living in circumstances similar to those of spouses”.
Source: DN
