Judges held a session last week. The deadline is Sunday, December 14th.
The Constitutional Court's analysis of the new Nationality Law , recently approved in Parliament with votes from the right, should be released this week. According to the legal deadline, the judges have until December 14th to issue their opinion – 25 consecutive days from the date it was sent to the Palácio Ratton (the Constitutional Court building). The first hearing took place last Thursday, December 4th.
It was on November 19th that the Socialist Party (PS) parliamentary group submitted requests for preventive review of constitutionality . The party, led by José Luís Carneiro, sent two separate requests to the Ratton Palace.
The request regarding the loss of nationality was handled by Judge Dora Neto . The decree containing the most profound changes will be analyzed by the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court, João Carlos Loureiro .
In total, 23 pages lay out the legal grounds that lead the Socialist Party (PS) to consider that the new legislation violates principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic . Among the rules to be analyzed are the new regulations on the naturalization of stateless persons, the clause that allows opposition to nationality based on behaviors that reveal rejection of the national community, the lack of a transitional regime, among others.
This is the second time that the judges of the Ratton Palace have been called upon to analyze laws related to immigration. In August, in the middle of the holiday period, the panel had only 15 days to decide on the Foreigners Law , which was reported on by Judge Joana Maria Rebelo Fernandes Costa. The request was made by President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza and resulted in the rejection of the law as it was written .
The ruling generated controversy, with then-judge Gonçalo Almeida Ribeiro stating, in a dissenting opinion, that the decision to reject the legislation was based on personal convictions. Furthermore, the former vice-president of the Constitutional Court considered the proposed measures to be "perfectly reasonable."
In September, Almeida Ribeiro resigned from his post , having already completed his required term in August. The gesture was a protest against the delay in appointing a new name to the Constitutional Court. The same occurred with José António Pires Teles Pereira , who resigned a few days later for the same reason .
The rapporteur for the Foreigners Law project, Joana Maria Rebelo Fernandes Costa, has also completed her term, but continues to work . Currently, there are nine judges on the panel, when there should be 11.
The issue remains off the Government's agenda, which has not commented on the matter . Currently, the Constitutional Court is presided over by Judge José João Abrantes.