PSD proposal does not “prohibit”, but rather “establishes rules to be observed by citizens in public spaces, for security reasons”. Mupholds the prohibition on concealing the face, but adds accessories.
The PSD wants to introduce changes to Chega’s project known as the “burqa law”, removing the “prohibition of concealing the face” from the title of this diploma and, alternatively, highlighting issues of “safety in public spaces”.
The replacement proposal presented by the PSD to the Chega project will be discussed and, in principle, voted on, on Wednesday, in the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Last October, the Chega project was completed in general. It got the support of the PSD, CDS and Liberal Initiative, but was opposed by the PS, Livre, PCP and Bloco de Esquerda. However, as soon as it was discussed in plenary and after its approval, doubts about its constitutionality were raised.
This week, the PSD decided to move forward with a set of changes to this Chega diploma, immediately changing its title.
Chega’s project has the title: “Prohibits the hiding of the face in public spaces with certain exceptions”. If the PSD amendment is approved, the reference to concealing one’s face will be eliminated and the title of the diploma will be the following: “Establishes rules to be observed by citizens in public spaces, for reasons of security and ensuring their identification”.
In the first article, relating to the object of the project, the social democratic bench highlights the security perspective. “This diploma establishes the rules to be observed by citizens in public spaces, for reasons of security and to guarantee their identification”, it reads.
The Chega project states that “the use, in public spaces, of clothing designed to hide or obstruct the display of one’s face is prohibited” and “it is prohibited to force someone to hide their face for reasons of gender or religion”.
The PSD maintains the ban on hiding one’s face, but adds, in addition to religion, issues such as the age or origin of citizens. On the other hand, in that same article, the Social Democrats also refer to “other accessories”. In other words, a form of generalization so as not to focus only on scarves or, more specifically, burqas.
“The use, in public spaces, of masks or any accessories that completely hide the face or prevent its visualization, making the person unidentifiable, is prohibited. It is also prohibited to coerce any person to hide their face for reasons of gender, religion, age or origin”, proposes the social democratic bench on this point.
The PSD’s proposals also change the sanctioning and penal regime.
Change in penalty
In cases of forced concealment of the face, Chega defends the application of the crime of coercion, with a prison sentence of up to three years, while the PSD proposes “up to a year of prison sentence or a fine of up to 120 days”.
“The penalty provided for in the previous paragraph is increased by one third when the victim is a minor”, it adds.
In the sanctioning regime, the Social Democratic bench proposes an administrative offense punishable by a fine of 100 to 250 euros, in case of negligence, and 400 to 1,000 in case of intent. And, in this regime, it details the powers for opening infringement proceedings.
“The security forces are responsible for monitoring compliance with this law and collecting the respective files. And the investigation of the processes and the application of the respective fines is the responsibility of the municipal council in whose area the infraction was committed”, it says in the substitute text presented by the PSD.
For the PSD, it is the police authorities who must send “the files collected within five working days of the occurrence of the facts that gave rise to them” to the respective city hall.
In terms of infractions, Chega’s project only foresees fines and higher fines. Between 200 and two thousand euros in case of negligence; and 400 euros and four thousand in case of fraud.
The initiative of the party led by André Ventura is largely based on the example of France. At the time of approval of the ban, the leader of Chega specified that the objective was to prohibit “women from wearing burqas in Portugal” and addressed immigrants in particular.
Chega provided in the document some exceptions to the prohibition, including “health reasons or professional, artistic and entertainment or advertising reasons” and “reasons related to safety or due to weather conditions or whenever this arises from a legal provision that allows it”. The impediment also “does not apply to airplanes or in diplomatic and consular installations” and provides that faces “can also be covered in places of worship and other sacred places”.
