The President of the Republic this Thursday sent to the Constitutional Court for preventive constitutional scrutiny the parliamentary decree reforming the central contact point for international police cooperation, removing Interpol and Europol from the jurisdiction of the judicial police.
In a note published on the Internet on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa states that he made this decision “since it is an issue related to fundamental rights, which for political and constitutional reasons caused division in the middle of the parliament” and “for the sake of legal certainty”.
Coming from a government proposal, the decree restructures the single contact point for international police cooperation was approved on October 27 in the General Assembly of the Republic, with votes in favor of the PS and votes against by all other parties: PSD, Chega, Liberal Initiative, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre.
This decree, which amends the law on the organization of criminal investigations and the law on internal security, passed from the parliament to the palace of Belém on Wednesday, November 16, after it had adopted its final wording.
Marcelo had warned in August that he could send the diploma to the Constitutional Court because he doubted the separation of powers. Because in the offices of Europol and Interpol, which leave the PJ for the SSI, cases of criminal investigation are also handled under the tutelage of the Prime Minister.
In October, the PS corrected the government’s bill to transfer the offices of Europol and Interpol from the Judicial Police (PJ) to the Internal Security System (SSI), where international police cooperation is concentrated.
According to the new wording for the restructuring of the Single Point of Contact for International Police Cooperation (PUC-CPI), the Criminal Organization and Investigation Act stipulates that it is the duty of the Secretary General of the SSI to appoint the head of this offices, “which is conducted by a member of the judicial police”.
At the same time, the Internal Security Act ensures that “the head of the Europol and Interpol Bureau is inherently the responsibility of the Coordinator of the Judiciary Police Station”.
Source: DN
