On 31 October, the Permanent Observatory for Justice (OPJ) of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra promoted the workshop “Guaranteeing Fundamental Rights: challenges for the judicial system in responding to crimes of domestic violence”, an initiative that is part of a European project promoting fundamental rights in sensitive and vulnerable areas. The debate was launched based on the work carried out by OPJ on “Violence against women and domestic violence: evaluation of measures applied to aggressors”.

The study - also linked to the conclusions of the report by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts (GREVIO), “Building trust by delivering support, protection and justice - Portugal" -  served as the basis for the critical reflection conducted throughout the session, guiding the debate on judicial practices, identifying constraints and formulating proposals to strengthen victim protection and improve the functioning of the judicial system. The authors, in presenting the main results and challenges identified, stimulated discussion on possible legislative changes, consensus-building instruments, risk assessment and institutional response capacity.

_{Photo © Superior Council of Magistrates}

The workshop, held at the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM), brought together around 20 judicial magistrates, public prosecutors, lawyers, and court professionals in a space for dialogue dedicated to improving judicial intervention in cases of domestic violence. The opening session was attended by the Vice-President of the CSM, Judge-Counsellor Azevedo Mendes, and moderated by Conceição Gomes and João Paulo Dias (with the support of Mariana Foja) from OPJ.

The conclusions and proposals gathered during the workshop will be systematised for future presentation and public sharing.

This initiative is part of the project “The Charter of Fundamental Rights in Action”, included in the programme “FAIR - EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: awareness-raising and tools to promote a culture of rights”, implemented in Portugal by OPJ/CES. The project is funded by the European Union and developed in nine Member States, under the coordination of the Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini (Italy).