According to data provided to Lusa by the Superior Council of Administrative and Tax Courts (CSTAF), "133,429 cases of the 6th Type - Summons for the defense of rights, freedoms, and guarantees" against the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) are pending in the Lisbon Administrative Court (TACL).

According to the CSTAF, the average number of new cases filed with the courts is approximately 500 per day, primarily related to immigrant residence permits and summonses to schedule interviews at the AIMA (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency) as part of the legalization process in Portugal.

The data show that this summer was particularly active and responsible for the increase in pending these cases. In June, during a meeting with journalists, the CSTAF reported approximately 50,000 pending cases, a number that nearly tripled in approximately three months.

The summer was also marked by an increase in the filing of administrative actions and precautionary measures with the TACL (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency), challenging expulsion orders from Portugal. AIMA filed 179 precautionary measures between July 14th and August 31st, and 298 main actions, significantly higher than similar cases filed with the TACL during the court vacation period in 2024, representing at least 75% of the cases in that period this year.

Regarding summonses, the TACL is the only court territorially competent to hear summons requests to the AIMA and currently has six of its 35 judges assigned exclusively to these cases, the number of cases of which increased exponentially in 2024, after the Agency replaced the defunct Immigration and Borders Service (SEF).

In June, the CSTAF stated that without these exceptional cases, the TACL would have had a resolution rate of 98% in 2024, rather than, as the Directorate-General for Justice Policy indicates, less than 30%.

“Dysfunctions”

This week, the Portuguese Judges' Union (ASJP) warned the government of the "real danger" posed by the failures and "artificial processes" originating from AIMA, rejecting responsibility for the state's "dysfunctions."

In two letters sent to the government, one to the Deputy Minister and Minister of State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, and the other to the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, the judges requested intervention in the "unsustainable situation at TACL, resulting from the accumulation of tens of thousands of cases directly related to AIMA."

The ASJP reiterated previous warnings to Minister Leitão Amaro, who oversees AIMA, highlighting the "devastating effects" on justice of the backlog of cases originating from administrative failures by the state, particularly the "widespread delays in cases of enormous social and economic relevance" in areas such as urban planning, the environment, and public procurement, in addition to the impacts on the "perception of inefficiency of the justice system."

Lusa contacted Minister Leitão Amaro's office for comment on the judges' concerns and warnings regarding the cases originating from AIMA, but received no response.