The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has made public the summaries of the reports on the visits carried out in 2023 to places of deprivation of liberty. The transparent operation of places of deprivation of liberty is fundamental to compliance with the rules that regulate the activity of these spaces,…
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, accompanied by the Deputy Ombudsman, Estrela Chaby, participated in the 13th World Conference and General Assembly of the International Institute of Ombudsmen (IOI), events organised by the National Justice of the Netherlands, taking place in The Hague from 12 to 17 May 2024. For the first time in eight years, this World Conference brought together…
Four legal advisers from the Ombudsman’s Office took part in the 1st edition of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) Academy, promoted by the Europe region and organised by the UK Ombudsman. This 1st edition of the IOI-Europe Academy took place on 16 and 17 January 2024 in Manchester and was particularly focused on working methods to involve and support the…
Universal Periodic Review (2024). Ombudsman submits report on the human rights situation in Portugal
In the exercise of its mandate as the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), in April the Ombudsman submitted the alternative report with a view to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to which the Portuguese state will be subject at the end of 2024. Recognised as an accredited NHRI with A status, in full compliance with the Paris Principles, the Ombudsman…
The medical certificate of multipurpose incapacity (AMIM) is today a central document in access to a series of rights granted to people with a certain degree of incapacity (generally equal to or greater than 60%), which derive from the State’s duty to promote and protect the fundamental rights of those who are in a situation of physical or mental disadvantage.…
A Provedora de Justiça requereu ao Tribunal Constitucional a declaração de inconstitucionalidade com força obrigatória geral de normas constantes da Lei n.º 22/2023, de 25 de maio, que regula as condições em que a morte medicamente assistida não é punível e altera o Código Penal. Para ler o requerimento, clique aqui.
The Ombudsman has sent a recommendation to the Order of Nurses to amend its Disciplinary Regulations, in order to remove the prohibition on the presence of a lawyer when witnesses are examined in disciplinary proceedings. To read the Recommendation, click here [in Portuguese only].
Difficulties related to the service provided by public services have long been the subject of the Ombudsman’s attention. However, the pandemic of 2020 and 2021 and the need to confine the population have profoundly changed existing practices, and, after the health emergency, many doubts and complaints have arisen about how the channels between public services and citizens are being resumed.…
On 26 January, the Ombudsman’s Office, represented by the Deputy Ombudsman, Estrela Chaby, signed a collaboration protocol with the National Centre for Legal Innovation (CNIJ), located in Bragança. The CNIJ embodies a long-standing collaboration between the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and Bragança City Council, under the slogan of a “University without walls”, with summer courses, conferences…
Special noise licences are administrative permits – to be issued by local authorities (municipality or parish, depending on the case) – that allow temporary noisy activities to take place, under certain conditions, near sensitive locations (such as residential buildings, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and on working days between 8pm and 8am, or near hospitals or similar establishments). As…
