Pedro Barosa clarifies whether a defendant may represent themselves in trial
The trial in the Operação Marquês case remains at a standstill due to the absence of defence counsel for the defendant. To resolve this impasse, could the former Prime Minister represent himself? On the programme SIC Verifica, Pedro Barosa explains that, if he were a lawyer registered with the Portuguese Bar Association, he could do so. However, “he would not have the necessary emotional distance to ensure technical impartiality”.
Moreover, in this specific case, “the law expressly provides and establishes, without exception, that in criminal trial hearings the defendant must be mandatorily represented by defence counsel”.
The Criminal Law specialist at Abreu Advogados further adds that “the presiding judge has at their disposal means, mechanisms and tools to put an end to this succession of changes of lawyers”, with eight different lawyers having already been involved.
Watch the full statements here.
