It is considered as a court “at the end of the world”. It is reduced to just three and without a manager for more than a year. With no new employees, the secretariat or judgments start to stand still.
“There was a competition for the position of technical assistant and those interested applied to places other than Odemira. Diligences are being made with other Counties to understand if there are interested in going to that court”, He told JN, Antonio Joaquim Silva, Judge President of the Judicial Court of the District of Beja (TJCB), drawing a black picture of the situation in the General Court of Odemira.
“Expositions have already been made to the General Directorate of the Administration of Justice (DGAJ), Superior Councils for the Judiciary and the Public Ministry to overcome this situation. One of the suggested measures is the secondment of officials from other districts”, justified. A competition for the creation of a post of Technical Assistant is in the preliminary stage, that to materialize “will have Odemira as its destination”, guaranteed António Joaquim Silva.
In the words of another magistrate who knows the reality well, “Odemira is a court located in the "end of the world", where no one wants to go”, harshly describing the situation that has long been lived in that judicial structure.
No Secretary of Justice for over a year, position assumed by Beja's employee, a staff rotation from last September that was dramatic, having lost two of the five employees, the scenario at the Court of Odemira (TO) it is increasingly catastrophic. After the conversation with the Chief Justice, JN found out with the delegate of the Bar Association in Odemira, that “one of the three employees has written off, two left. It is impossible for them to do what they have to do without losing their mental health”, justified Teresa Gaspar.
“Making two judgments at the same time in Odemira, it's unthinkable. If one more employee is not added, the situation could take on dramatic proportions”, justified António Joaquim Silva. The magistrate went further revealing that the Case Recovery Team was in Beja to do this work remotely, “but as in Odemira the processes are not all digitized, they could not access them”, finished.
One way to alleviate the lack of employees has been to use “a professional from the Mértola Proximity Court who helps in the Odemira processes from a distance. How the processes instructed in Mértola are judged in Beja, the official is freer to support the other court”, revealed António Joaquim Silva.
But at the level of magistrates also the TO does not live in an untroubled situation, since there are only two judges to attend all the trials in the two courts. The Presiding Judge recalls that soon after taking office, what happened in 5 January 2021, “I had to deal with a bad phase with the lack of judges. A judge was expelled (Fonseca and Costa, the denialist judge) and a judge did not even take office for health reasons. The situation was overcome with the use of judges from Beja, who were doing Odemira service, dispatching processes, even though they did not make judgments”, finished.
But in the prosecutor's office (MP) of Odemira the situation is not better either since it was reduced to 2 officials, with the departure of one of the three existing, in the rotation of last September. Such as no court, the MP is in a similar situation, with only two Prosecutors to handle all inquiries and attend trials.
Lidador Notícias asked the Ministry of Justice several questions about the situation in the Odemira General Court of Competence, but no clarification provided.
Teresa Gaspar - Bar Association (Odemira delegation)
“It is impossible to do what you have to do, not losing mental health, employees do not have the human capacity to respond. How to solve? During rotations, employees should not be allowed to leave for other courts or districts without the Odemira problem being resolved. Two more employees made all the difference. the year has started now, but surely we will have the same job, but we will receive fewer dispatches”.
Cases in the Court of Odemira
According to the data revealed by the Judge President of the Comarca de Beja, in Odemira, the existing processes in the secretariat are almost twice as many as are officially accounted for, taking into account that many of those existing in the secretariat are open processes and where data must be entered, such as what happens in family cases with alimony and other.
Cases in the Court of Odemira: Judge 1/January 2022: Secretariat-746 and Officers- 420. August 2022: Secretary- 857 and Officers- 441. Judge 2/January 2022: Secretariat-818 and Officers- 479. August 2022: Secretary- 896 and Officers- 468.
The case of the request to the MP made by Lidador Notícias
In 31 March of the current year, Lidador Notícias asked for a copy of the final order of the filing of a case. Thirty-nine days later, a 9 May, it was answered that: as soon as notification of the filing is made to the complainant, an order will be issued on your request”. Almost five months later, still no response from the MP.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
