Supreme Court Chief Criticizes Partisan Labeling of Constitutional Court Nominees as Appointment Deadlock Continues

The head of Portugal's Supreme Court of Justice has publicly criticized the country's political parties for turning judicial appointments into partisan spectacles, warning that the practice threatens to undermine confidence in the Constitutional Court at a moment when the institution faces vacant seats.

The Situation

• Three Constitutional Court seats remain empty after the parliamentary election vote has been postponed four times.

• The ruling PSD is negotiating with Chega, Portugal's second-largest parliamentary party, to secure a two-thirds majority—potentially excluding the Socialists entirely from the appointment process.

• The Socialist Party has rejected the arrangement, viewing it as a departure from traditional power-sharing practices in judicial appointments.

• The Constitutional Court continues to operate with reduced capacity as negotiations stall.

Judicial Chief Breaks Silence on Partisan Labels

Speaking to reporters in Coimbra during a ceremony to expand a new financial management model for regional courts, Judge-Counsellor João Cura Mariano, who presides over the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ), described the public branding of candidates by political affiliation as "extremely inhibitory."

"Career judges do not have party membership," Mariano said. "This association or party indication is extremely damaging to judges. Nobody wants to be labeled 'I am the Chega judge' or 'the PS judge.' Judges do not belong to any party."

He emphasized that six of the Constitutional Court's 13 magistrates must come from the career judiciary, drawn from other tribunal benches. Under Portugal's current system, 10 of the 13 seats are elected by parliament, requiring a two-thirds supermajority—in theory a formula for consensus, but in practice a vehicle for political negotiation.

Mariano stopped short of endorsing a specific alternative but floated two possibilities: splitting appointments between the President of the Republic and the Superior Council of the Magistracy (an entity he also chairs ex officio), or reforming parliamentary practice so parties collectively nominate candidates rather than staking explicit territorial claims.

"Within the current method, I think the parties in parliament should have the responsibility to make nominations without them being by party," he said. "That is, the parties meet and find competent people whom they all nominate. Not the PS judge, not the PSD judge, not the Chega judge—it should not be like that."

The Impasse: Four Postponements and Counting

The standoff has already forced four postponements of the parliamentary vote. Two of the vacant seats were previously held by PSD-appointed judges, and one by a PS nominee. Under historical norms, the two largest parties—PSD and PS—divided most appointments through an informal arrangement.

The 2024 parliamentary elections reshaped the arithmetic. Chega, which became the assembly's second-largest force, is now demanding representation on the bench.

The PSD government, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, has been courting the Liberal Initiative (IL) to assemble the necessary votes for a three-judge slate that would include a Chega nominee. That would leave the Socialists without a new appointment this cycle—a scenario PS leader José Luís Carneiro has called a departure from democratic tradition.

In a high-stakes meeting between Montenegro and Carneiro, no agreement was reached. The Socialists argue that handing a seat to a party they accuse of advocating positions contrary to constitutional principles represents a departure from institutional stability.

A System Under Stress

Mariano's intervention is unusual. As STJ president, he rarely wades into legislative debates. His comments reflect frustration within the career judiciary at being conscripted into party branding wars.

"I see the nominations that are made, and they are extremely good professionals who do not vote in the Constitutional Court according to party indications—they are free and independent," he said. "But this public discussion and public nomination is extremely inhibitory for people who want to be judges of the Constitutional Court."

The Socialists have signaled their opposition to the arrangement. Whether they pursue other mechanisms to block it remains unclear. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court's docket grows, and the judges still serving shoulder an expanding caseload with no clear end in sight.

For residents navigating disputes over new laws and regulations, the unresolved appointment deadlock adds uncertainty to an already complex judicial landscape—a question Lisbon's political class has now failed to resolve four times running.