In 2021, a record volume of 12,219 new cases were processed, as a result of a 6% annual increase in the number of complaints admitted. Based on 2017, the beginning of the first mandate of the current Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, the accumulated growth in the number of new complaints processed is 57%. A new high of 21 259 requests…
The Ombudsman marks Children’s Day, which is celebrated on June 1, with her participation in the conference "Themes of family and children’s law", organized by the Braga Delegation of the Bar Association. "The Ombudsman in the protection of childhood" is the theme of Maria Lúcia Amaral’s intervention.
The Ombudsman drew the attention of the Secretary of State for Social Security to two of the social protection measures for illness and parenthood in situations of prophylactic isolation that are not being duly applied by the Institute of Social Security, I.P. (ISS), as well as for the difficulties that self-employed workers (TI) currently face in fulfilling their contribution obligations…
The Ombudsman once again addressed the President of the Institute of Social Security (ISS) to request that he proceed with the payment to companies of requests for extraordinary support for the progressive resumption of activity, formulated since December, which are still pending confirmation by the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) of the requirement related to the drop in invoicing. After…
Ombudsman addresses the Rule of Law in a conference organized by the Portuguese presidency of the EU
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, spoke at the two-day high-level conference on “The Rule of Law in Europe”, which brought together, in Coimbra, politicians, magistrates, academics and representatives of civil society. Co-organized with the European Commission, the conference took place in the framework of the Portuguese presidency of the European Union in a hybrid format (in person and online), with…
The Ombudsman’s Office is publishing a small collection entitled “Pandemic Notebooks”, three studies on the extraordinary times we live in. The first focuses on the general topic of education and collects information that was obtained during the first phase of suspension of classroom classes that took place in 2020. The second focuses on homelessness and covers roughly the same period…
The Deputy Ombudsman, Joaquim Pedro Cardoso da Costa, attended on 7 April the international conference on the United Nations Resolution on the "role of the Ombudsman and ombudsman institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights, good governance and the rule of law". The webinar was organized by the Ombudsman of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Council of Europe…
The Ombudsman consulted the Secretary of State for Finance, in order to ascertain the Secretary of State for Finance’s interpretation of the current version of Decree-Law no. 10-J/2020, of 26.03, and received a clarification from him, in line with the Ombudsman’s interpretation, that bank loans to higher education students are included within the scope of the public moratorium. This request…
The Ombudsman received a complaint from DECO, in which this association asked her to complain to the legislator about the elimination of the temporal application norm of Law no. 57/2020, through which the legislator limited the prohibition of certain bank commissions to new contracts. The Ombudsman responded negatively to DECO, in the terms of the letter that can be read…
The Ombudsman sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Social Security, in which she draws attention to the negative impact that the payment of exceptional family support is having on the contribution career of workers who were obliged to resort to this support in order to provide assistance to their children, under the age of 12, due to…