Manuel Soares explained that the decision to suspend the one-day strike was taken after a meeting with the minister of justice in December, which was followed by the submission to the judges of a written proposal on the matters in question.

While they have called off the 23 January strike, the judges have not for now called off another 10 strike days scheduled between now and October.

"The written proposal is technically complex and we are analysing it,” Soares said. “While we are talking and discussing matters that divide us it does not seem reasonable to us to take this step [strike] and for that reason we have called it off.”

The move, the association said, is "a sign of openness and willingness to talk".

On whether it would be possible to call off the remaining strike days, Soares said only that the ASJP had marked the protests in the conviction that it would not be necessary to take that action.

The 21 days of strike, scheduled between 20 November 2018, and October of this year, were called due to the dispute surrounding a proposal to revise the status of judicial magistrates, which has already been approved by parliament but which the ASJP sees as inadequate. particularly where remuneration is concerned.

It says that its members cannot accept new rules that do not adequately ensure greater judicial independence or resolve career blockages going back almost three decades, so extending a conflict that has dragged for too long.