Portugal’s Constitutional Court has once again ruled that stripping an immigrant of Portuguese nationality on the basis of criminal convictions is unconstitutional. The unanimous decision was made public on the afternoon of Friday, 8th May.
The case was reported by Justice Mariana Rodrigues Canotilho. The constitutional review had been requested by the Socialist Party (PS) following Parliament’s renewed approval of the legislation. The bill amended the Penal Code to introduce the loss of nationality as an additional criminal penalty. The government secured the measure’s passage with the support of the right-wing Chega party.
The proposal had been struck down by the Constitutional Court.once before, and the government subsequently revised the text in an attempt to bring it into line with constitutional requirements. Even so, constitutional scholars and opposition MPs warned from the outset that the amendments would be insufficient to render the measure lawful.
Under the now-rejected legislation, nationality could be withdrawn from naturalised citizens convicted and sentenced to an effective prison term of five years or more. The provision covered eight categories of crime, including aggravated homicide, slavery, human trafficking, rape, sexual abuse, offences against state security, crimes linked to terrorist organisations, and participation in criminal associations.
Judges at the Palácio Ratton, the seat of the Constitutional Court, concluded that the measure breached the constitutional principle of equality, as the penalty of loss of nationality would apply exclusively to naturalised Portuguese citizens. The court also found a violation of the principle of proportionality, ruling that the offences listed “do not incorporate any dimension of rupture” with an individual’s status as a Portuguese citizen.
Source: LUSA
