The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated this Monday the Aliens and Asylum Granting Law, known as the return law. The promulgation occurred just three days after the Constitutional Court declared that the law complied with the Portuguese Constitution.
The Head of State had previously requested from the Constitutional Court the preventive review of the constitutionality of some provisions of the decree, expressing doubts about whether the best interests of the child were safeguarded and whether the proportionality of the duration of deprivation of liberty of foreign citizens who did not commit any crime was guaranteed.
The Constitutional Court decided in favor of the non-unconstitutionality of the provisions in question, clarifying interpretive issues regarding the expulsion of children born in Portugal, the possibility of separation of parents and children, and the expulsion of refugees deserving international protection.
The President of the Republic stated that reforms in these matters are desirable, but that they should be carried out with legal certainty and respecting the Portuguese Constitution and the international instruments in force.
