Hi there,
In this third and final post about injustice in Portugal, I want to go beyond my personal experiences and focus on the country’s judicial system and public institutions in general.
Throughout these articles, I have shared the multiple times the system has failed us, but what I experienced is not an isolated case. Not only is the judicial system corrupt, but the rest of the public institutions that should ensure order and the welfare of citizens are mired in the same anarchy.
Worst of all, this anarchy perpetuates criminality and impunity, since the competent authorities not only fail to act, but are often the ones who encourage disorder. In this post, I want to show how this incompetence in public institutions is the root of a vicious cycle in which injustice and corruption continue to reign in Portugal.
I wrote an article shortly after moving to Portugal in which I captured my experience of facing the reality of the country beyond what we are sold in the news or in publications aimed at tourists and digital nomads. Portugal is often portrayed as an idyllic destination, full of sunshine, delicious food and charming cities, but what is not shown is the underlying reality that most experience upon arrival.
As I discovered each of the illegalities of the house that had been sold to me, I filed a complaint with the City Council, which is the competent body in all matters related to urban planning, buildings and construction regulations.
After having lived in other European countries, where the institutions act with rigor, the least I expected was that the City Council would take action, fine or at least penalize in some way the people who had sold me a house built illegally and without the necessary permits.
However, to my surprise, the response I received was that they do absolutely nothing and that they do not have enough personnel to pursue illegal construction in the city. Over the years that I have lived in Porto, I have reported countless illegalities, not only with respect to my house, but also to other properties, and the City Council has simply done nothing about it.
Another public institution that leaves much to be desired is the Tax Agency. Through our experience, we have noticed that they do not pay attention to tax fraud and the numerous illegalities that people commit.
Not issuing invoices, not paying taxes or not paying VAT are everyday behaviors, it is normality. The Tax Agency seems to be more focused on ignoring these crimes than on prosecuting them.
But the most outrageous thing is that even when you want to do things right and pay your taxes correctly, you face an even bigger barrier. Officials have no idea how to proceed, they provide wrong information and, when the taxpayer makes a mistake due to this misinformation, the blame always seems to fall on the taxpayer.
The Tax Agency works in such a way that it is more convenient to evade taxes or commit tax fraud than to try to do things legally, because, ironically, if you decide to act within the law, you are the one who ends up being fined.
Although our experience with people on a day-to-day basis, from business employees to health care workers in hospitals to our neighbours in general, has been wonderful, not all situations are equally positive.
In the summer of 2024, a neighbour came to insult us while we were cleaning the sidewalk, simply because some dry leaves, blown by the wind, were falling in front of her gate. We decided to proceed with a complaint for the crime of insult.
To our surprise, we found that in order for this complaint to go forward, we had to be accompanied by a lawyer and pay a very high court fee. As you can imagine, this situation represented a significant economic loss just to initiate such a simple judicial process, which would probably end up being filed.
Moreover, we are talking about a person whose son is in jail for theft and whose family is illegally occupying the house. The story is not over yet, but for the moment the judicial system has done nothing but impose obstacles on the victims.
As we have been able to appreciate throughout the last three articles of this blog, Portugal’s judicial system and public institutions are far from what one would expect from a first world country within the European Union.
We have witnessed how the institutions do not function properly, how the judicial system has no interest in doing justice and how, instead of investigating illegalities and criminal acts, they simply file cases. On many occasions, the lack of action on the part of the authorities not only leaves crimes unpunished but even seems to incite more crimes to be committed, due to the total impunity that exists.
In almost three years living in Portugal, I have come to the conclusion that lawlessness reigns. Public institutions, far from fulfilling their duty to look after the welfare of citizens and ensure the application of the law, seem to be part of a system that, instead of correcting, perpetuates criminality. This leaves us with a bitter feeling that, despite our complaints, efforts and suffering, there is no way to achieve justice.