“Still under construction”
Authorities have extended the deadline they set themselves for creating a room at Lisbon airport where a judge can hear foreign citizens detained at the border because the space is still under construction.
It now appears the new deadline is September 1, but it does still sound ‘fluid’.
A statement by the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) explains: “The completion of this project continues to depend on the finalisation of the necessary works, which fall outside the responsibility of the CSM.”
In March, the council indicated that the room would be operational by the “end of the first half of this year” and that a judge from the Lisbon Minor Offences Court would handle it.
Now, the body admits “to date,” it has yet to receive “any forecast for the completion date” of the space, which will operate next to the international zone of Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon.
“As soon as the courtroom is operational, the CSM will appoint a judge to ensure that the duties provided for in this context are carried out,” the statement concluded.
All these ‘changes’ to Portugal’s preparedness for foreigners arriving ‘illegally’ in this country are linked to the new government’s ‘get tough’ approach, which does not have broad political consensus in parliament – and which is currently undergoing scrutiny by the Constitutional Court.
Lusa adds that it is the PSP (Public Security Police) that are in charge of the work, creating this new space.
Source material: LUSA
