The Judicial Workers Union warns of a shortage of more than 2,000 judicial officers in the courts, with some cases in which only two or three workers act by section, according to the regional executive secretary of the SFJ Center.
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16/10/2026
by
Lusa
Othe Portuguese courts have a shortage of more than 2,000 judicial officers, operating in some cases with only two or three workers per section, today warned the regional executive secretary of the Center of the Judicial Workers Union (SFJ).
“More than 2,000 court officials are missing. All sections, all courts have shortages: we have courts that are working with two or three employees in the smaller cores ", said Helena Oliveira.
In statements to the Lusa agency by telephone, on the margins of the plenary of officials of justice that takes place this morning at the Palace of Justice of Coimbra, the union leader explained that among the main demands of workers are the strengthening of human resources, the revision of careers and the improvement of working conditions.
According to Helena Oliveira, the career of the judicial officers has remained unreviewed for about 20 years, “being one of the careers not reviewed since 2008, when the reorganization of public administration began to review all careers”.
“ We are currently in the statutory review, but things are moving very slowly,” he added.
The trade union leader also indicated that, although the entry of new professionals was scheduled for April, the competition procedure has not yet been launched.
“We don’t know how many bailiffs they will put in,” he said, showing that, even after the opening of the competitions, it will be necessary to wait for the training of new workers until they can strengthen the courts.
The situation is aggravated by the aging of the class, “whose average age is around 50”.
To Lusa, Helena Oliveira also warned about the possible application of the Public Administration performance assessment system (SIADAP) to the judicial officers, arguing that the model should take into account the specific nature of the functions performed in a sovereign body.
“ We are dependent on the magistrates and the Superior Council of the Magistracy and therefore it cannot be the State trying to inspect us, since we work in an organ of sovereignty”, he concluded.