// Tiago Petinga / Lusa
The President of the Republic, Antonio José Seguro
This Sunday, the President of the Republic promulgated the parliamentary decree that amends the Nationality Law, approved by PSD, Chega, IL and CDS-PP, but he wanted it to have been based on a greater consensus, “without ideological marks of the moment”.
In a note on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic, Antonio José Seguro reaffirms the understanding he expressed as a presidential candidate that this matter should “be based on a greater consensus around its essential lines” distancing itself from possible “ideological marks of the moment”.
The President of the Republic’s decision to promulgate the decision “contributed to the reading that the more demanding criteria and increased deadlines for the acquisition of nationality do not impede the essential humanitarian protection and the desirable integration of children and minors born in Portugal, children of immigrants, as established in the national legal framework, namely access to health and education”, reads the note.
In his message, the President of the Republic argues that, in this matter, “possible future legislative changes and the formulation of new public policies must always attribute special attention to the protection and integration of children and minors, born in Portugal”.
The, promulgated today, increase deadlines for foreigners who legally reside in Portugal to acquire Portuguese nationality and restricts its attribution to those who are born in Portugal – norms that already were included in the previous version and in relation to which there was political debate, but in relation to which questions of constitutionality were not raised.
This decree was approved in parliament on April 1in a second version, after the Constitutional Court (TC), by PSD, Chega, IL and CDS-PP, with votes against by PS, Livre, PCP, BE and PAN, and the abstention of JPP, and went to the Belém Palace on April 13. The President of the Republic had until today to promulgate or veto it.
On the same date and with the same vote, parliament approved, also in a second version, and in this case, all unanimously, the decree amending the Penal Code, to create the additional penalty of loss of nationality.
On April 21, the PS submitted this decree to new preventive inspection of constitutionality. The TC has 25 days to comment on this request.
The majority with which these two decrees were approved, superior a 2/3 of the deputies present, allows for eventual confirmation in parliament both in the face of a veto by the President of the Republic and in the face of unconstitutionalities declared by the STF, in accordance with the Constitution.
In the ruling of December 15th on the changes to the Nationality Law, the TC only commented on a small part of the decree’s rules, covered by the PS’s inspection request, declaring 4 of them unconstitutional, three unanimously.
After reformulating these rules, the PS decided, this time, not to submit the new decree to preventive inspection of constitutionality. The President of the Republic also understood not submitting any standards to the TC of the Nationality Law.
In the note he promulgated this Sunday, Antonio José Seguro says that the rules declared unconstitutional “were globally reviewed in the new diplomato overcome the unconstitutionalities declared in the aforementioned decision”.
“However, despite the parliamentary majority that approved the diplomathe President of the Republic reiterates that the review of a law of reinforced value with the importance of the Nationality Law should also be based on greater consensus around its essential lines”, he adds.
According to the head of state, “this distance would recommend that the Nationality Law were not subject to successive changesto the detriment of legal security and, consequently, of people and the risk of affecting the unavoidable credibility of institutions”.
At the moment, Minors born in the territory are Portuguese by origin Portuguese who have one of their parents residing in the country for at least a year, regardless of title. This right is now limited to those who have one of their parents legally residing in Portugal for at least five years.
O period of legal residence to acquire Portuguese nationality, which currently takes five years, is increased to seven years, in the case of citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and the European Union, or to ten, in the case of nationals of other countries.
Nationality granting regimes are eliminated to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jewsimplemented in 2015, and to those born in former Portuguese overseas territories independent persons who have remained in Portugal, and their children born here, which aimed to safeguard cases not covered by the 1975 law.
This process of reviewing the Nationality Law originated from a Government proposal and was later transformed into two bills by PSD and CDS-PP, who justified the autonomy of loss of nationality as an additional penalty with the existence of doubts about constitutionality on this matter, without, however, dropping the proposal.
