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TC_19970706 AI generated

Portuguese Constitutional Court declares CPP Art. 40 unconstitutional for allowing judge intervention in preliminary investigation phases.

Case Number TC_19970706
Court / Authority
Jurisdiction Portugal (PT)
Outcome Inadmissible
Open official source Machine-readable Markdown (.md)

Legislator summary

AI generated

The Constitutional Court declared Article 40 of the Portuguese Code of Criminal Procedure unconstitutional in its entirety. The provision allowed the investigating judge to intervene in the trial regarding preventive detention and complex crime classifications, which the Court found violated the principle of separation of functions. Consequently, the Supreme Court's reliance on this article was revoked to ensure judicial independence during the trial phase.

Legislator headnote

AI generated

Art. 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; The principle of separation of functions prohibits the investigating judge from intervening in the trial proceedings regarding the merits of the case or procedural decisions made during the investigation phase.

Keywords

AI generated
separation of functions investigating judge trial intervention preventive detention constitutional invalidity criminal procedure judicial independence

Cited Legislation

AI generated
Art. 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
Art. 215, no. 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
artº 40º do Código de Processo Penal
artigo 215º do Código de Processo Penal
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Full text

Acórdão 706/97

ACÓRDÃO Nº 706/97

Proc.nº 506/97

2ª Secção

Relator: Cons. Sousa e Brito

Acordam na 2ª Secção do Tribunal Constitucional :

Nestes autos vindos do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, em que é recorrente A. e recorridos o Ministério Público e outros pelos fundamentos do Acórdão nº 935/96, publicado no Diário da República - II Série de 11/11/96, para os quais se remete, decide-se:

a) Julgar inconstitucional o artº 40º do Código de Processo Penal, na parte em que permite a intervenção no julgamento do juiz que, na fase de inquérito, decretou e posteriormente manteve a prisão preventiva do arguido e ainda na parte em que permite idêntica intervenção do juiz que na mesma fase classificou o processo como de excepcional complexidade devido ao carácter altamente organizado do crime, para os efeitos do nº 3 do artigo 215º do Código de Processo Penal, ou ordenou ou autorizou escutas telefónicas e apreciou a relevância das mesmas para a prova.

b) Em consequência conceder provimento ao recurso revogando-se a decisão recorrida, a fim de a mesma ser reformada em consonância com o entendimento sobre a questão de constitucionalidade.

Lisboa, 3 de Dezembro de 1997

José de Sousa e Brito

Messias Bento

Guilherme da Fonseca

Fernando Alves Correia

Luís Nunes de Almeida

Bravo Serra

José Manuel Cardoso da Costa