Manuel de Almeida/Lusa
Luís Montenegro spoke, this Tuesday, in Parliament, about the possibility of taking the Portuguese nationality to those who commit serious crimes. However, this is unconstitutional.
On the morning of Tuesday, the presentation of the Government’s program to Parliament, the Nationality Law was one of the highlighted topics.
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegrosaid that the proposal to review the nationality law will have three main axes, including an extending situations in which it may be “Loss of nationality due to serious, very serious behaviors, namely criminal nature“.
But, in a reaction, in Parliament the socialist deputy Isabel Moreira recalled that removing Portuguese nationality is unconstitutional.
“This is absolutely unconstitutional,” said the jurist in response to the intervention of the presidential minister, António Leitão Amarowhich has the immigration folder.
Isabel Moreira also recalled that “there are no automatic losses of nationality and nationality is only lost by the will of its own (…) As the PSD said one, two and three times in response to arrival proposals in the previous legislature. ”
In fact, it is only possible to “lose” nationality if it is at the request of itself; or in cases where the attribution or acquisition of the nationality that was made using Documentation or false statements.
What suggests now the Democratic Alliance (AD) had already suggested the arrival in the past. In 2021, the party led by André Ventura proposed the withdrawal From Portuguese nationality to citizens naturalized who were sentenced to Effective penalty of more than five years in prison.
The proposal was not even discussed, since was declared unconstitutional In the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees – the.
The fundamental law stipulates that “No penalty involves as necessary effect the loss of any civil, professional or political rights”.
There is still a difference between the government’s suggestion and the proposal of the arrival: while the far-right party the loss of nationality as automatic sanction; the Executive does not foresee “automatic sanctions”.
In the government’s debate, Leitão Amaro acknowledged that there are no automatic losses of nationalities or automatic sanctions and that any decision will always be from “ancillary sanctions decided by a judge.”
“The law that sets rights and conditions must set the right and conditions for the attribution and exercise of these rights, from principle to end,” he explained.
