Judicial Secrecy
Judicial secrecy has been violated in so many high-profile cases over the last ten years that it is almost routine. At the same time, the Portuguese legislature has yet to come up with a comprehensive response to effectively regulate the secrecy of investigations in criminal proceedings. There have been five versions since 1987 and none of them solved the practical inconveniences posed by the media maelstrom Portuguese society lives in today.
In this study by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, the author – Fernando Gascón Inchausti – proposes a comparative law analysis that will allow for a better discussion of this issue in the Portuguese context, conducting a legal analysis of judicial secrecy in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, England and the United States.
- What are the formal differences between the choices made by each legislator?
- What is the practical capacity of each legal system to effectively protect judicial secrecy?
- What problems are common to all these legal frameworks?
In its final reflections, this study also presents some clues for investigation secrecy in criminal proceedings that is more appropriate to the reality of the world we live in. Some proposals for reform are put forward, both in terms of the consequences for criminal proceedings and the consequences for offenders. FFMS thus seeks to contribute to more in-depth public and political information and debate on one of the most important aspects of the Portuguese justice system.
