On 31 May, José Luís da Cruz Vilaça, managing partner of CVA, together with four other signatories of the ‘Manifesto por uma Reforma da Justiça em Defesa do Estado de Direito Democrático' met with the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, at the S. Bento Palace. The signatories of the Manifesto had already been received by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to whom they expressed the same concerns.

The Manifesto was made public on the 1st of May, with a group of 100 personalities signing the document in defence of a ‘civic upsurge’ that would put an end to the ‘worrying inertia’ of political agents regarding justice reform.

According to the document, ‘After 50 years, our democratic regime is in need of structural interventions that can restore its full capacity to respond to today's multiple challenges. In this context, justice reform appears to be a priority, as it is the sector of public power that has shown the most problems.’

‘The signatories call on the President of the Republic, the Portuguese Parliament and the Government, as well as all the national political parties, to take the necessary initiatives to implement a reform of the justice sector which, while fully respecting the independence of the courts, the autonomy of the General Prosecutor's Office and the guarantees of judicial defence, is unequivocally aimed at resolving the bottlenecks in the justice system.

Among the Manifesto's priorities are the guarantee of an effective separation between political power and justice, the strengthening of transparency in the functioning of justice institutions, the return of the General Prosecutor's Office to the constitutional model of its hierarchical functioning, with the General Public Prosecutor at the centre, compliance with the secrecy of justice, improving the effectiveness of citizens' right of access to justice, as well as the imperative reduction of the delays that penalise citizens, economic operators and foreigners so much in the criminal, civil, administrative and tax spheres.