"We want to establish effective obligatory deadlines for decisions," Pedro Mota Soares said at a news conference after the day's cabinet meeting. "The administrative deadline will have to be 12 months at most, precisely to guarantee that this same adjustment can be made must more quickly, that is, ensuring that a family really can adopt."


According to the minister, "protecting children is the centre of this reform, shortening waiting times, reducing bureaucracy" and "supporting and simplifying the lives of families".


The aim is also to speed up the process of securing consent from the birth family. This is now to be done before a judge, to ensure it is done correctly, but in one single step.


Another goal of the legislation, Mota Soares said, was to bring all the rules together in one law, contrasting with the current "great dispersal of legislation" on the subject.