The Provedor de Justiça (Ombudsman of Portugal) established a structure called Linha Verde «Recados da Criança» (Green Line «Children’s Messages») for the purpose to receive complaints related to minors in a risky and dangerous situation which are reported by the minors themselves or by adults on their behalf.

So the establishment of the Linha Verde «Recados da Criança» corresponds with the Ombudsman’s aim as defensor and promoter of the citizens’ rights, freedoms, safeguards and legitimate interests, to listen from among these to the ones who have the most difficulty to be listened to in a situation of injustice or illegality caused by the exercise of public powers; it opens to the children the direct access to the Ombudsman in the same conditions as those of all citizens.

So it is why the Linha Verde Recados da Criança makes the communication with the Ombudsman direct and accessible for grown-ups and for children who want to use their right to claim because of acts and omissions committed by the public powers against a more fragile and vulnerable class of society, the minors, enabling the Provedor de Justiça to intervene to ensure that the competent entities take action.

The peculiarity of this Line is:

-First of all to count on the Ombudsman’s legitimity as public authority to intervene with the entities competent for acting, and which on their part are obliged to co-operate in acordance to what is assigned in articles 18th, 19th, 20th, 21th and 28th of the Ombudsman’s Statute.

-Secondly to count on the support from the departments of the Ombudsman’s office, especially from the technical-juridical advisory body of the different sections.

For achieving the principal aim it is necessary:

-To spread information about the minors’ rights, assigned in the Convention of the Children’s Rights as well as in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, in the Civil Code, in the Educational Tutelage Act and in the Protection Act for Children and Juveniles in Danger as well as in so many other legislative diplomas.

-To make the Green Line «Recados da Criança» known as a means for children to assert their right and to enable them to complain about the situtations they are suffering as victims.

-To assure a personalized, respectful and efficient service.

-To contribute for the accessibility to information.

-To proceed with guiding the situation towards the competent entities and observing the latters’ actuation if necessary.

-To prevent the situations of violation of the minors’ rights.

In 1999, 3038 phone calls were registered. From among these:

- 904 (29,7%) refer to matters resolved by phone, giving the pretended information or the adequate orientation towards the entity competent to act.

- 714 (23,5 %) needed the opening of a formal process, because it was necessary to request an information from the entity competent to act, and to supervise how the latter dealt with the case in question.

- 1420 (46,7%) refer to different calls, for instance: a child being alone would like to talk a bit, a juvenile needing to open his heart about his relations with his parents, a grown-up pretending to make a donation to an Institution which works with children.

There was an increase of 1819 calls compared with the year before, the increase going on. In 2000, there were already 4820 calls registered which means an increase of 1782 calls.

During the year 1999, in addition to the calls, 85 new formal processes came in as well as 42 processes needing several steps to be put into practice besides the formal opening. 101 processes were filed.

The situations more frequently presented were:

- Negligence as to security, health, support and education of minors practised by those who are in charge of them, physical and psychical Maltreatment, Aplication of tutelary measures, regulation of paternal powers, School problems, Nonfulfillment of the Right/Duty concerning visits, Adoption, Sexual Abuses, Nonfulfillment of the duty for Alimony, Necessity to alter the Regulation of Paternal Power as to being in charge of minors, rights to visit and to receive alimony, Investigation of Paternity, Families in need, Pensions paid due to the death of one of the minor’s progenitors, Absenteeism at school, Abandon of school, Children’s work, embezzlement committed by minors, placing in Institution, Abandon, Mendicity.

The Ombudsman emitted several recommendations during 1999, among them:

- A recommendation addressed to the Minister of Justice wherein he assigned a legislative lack as to the term of time to propound the Actions to investigate the paternity/maternity. It recommends a legislative alteration in the sense to confirm the imprescriptibility for the propounding of these actions when the pretended results are merely of personnal character.

- A recommendation addressed to the Minister of Justice wherein the necessity for introducing legislative alterations within the juridical regimen for a birth register is assigned, subsequently to the denouncing of situations where minors who are under the care of persons are registered as being the latters’ children, without adoption process.

- A recommendation addressed to the Ministry of Labour and Solidarity as to the attribution of maternity benefit in order to revise the decision of the Regional Centre of Social Security which denied the concession of this benefit.

- Publication of several articles in some magazines of social communication, organisation of debates in schools and the presentation of a proposal made to the schools to carry out a competition, participation in seminars, distribution of rulers and stickers which inform children about the existence of LVRC and it’s work as well as a proposal for a program to be presented

at TV about the children’s rights in the scope of the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) aiming at divulging the rights planned in UDHR more closely related to the minors, in

an understandable way for them, and showing in a practical way the sense of these rights and the situations of threatening or violating these rights, as well as clarifying the ways of proceeding when they are confronted with situations of menace or violation, which are the means of defence.

The new Ombudsman, Mr.Henrique Nascimento Rodrigues, took up the office on 9th of June. On the 27th of July a proposal for measures of reorganisation and actuation of the LVRC was approved with the result of:

- Extension of the opening hours for personal and direct attendance to twice the time.

- Increase of labouring hours of the staff due to the increase of phone calls and processes.

- Improvement of organisation and control of each process obliging the entities to be efficient and prompt with a view to the minor’s need for protection as well as controlling the attendance given to the specific case.

- Render the time more profitable with a view to responding not only to the calls and processes but also going on with the study of the matters both in the sequence of a complaint as well as by own initiative, with the result of interventions useful for the children.

In each situation the Line tries the best solution with the Services and Institutions competent for it so that the children’s fundamental rights be really safeguarded. In this sense the co-operation with the Organisms, the Entities and the Institutions we approach has been fundamental:

-Commissions for the Protection of Minors (CPM)

-Regional Centres of Social Security

-Institute for Social Rehabilitation

-Townhalls and Registration Offices

-Institute for the Support of the Child

-Project for the Support of the Family and the Child

-Charitable Institution

-Ministry for Education and General Teaching Inspection

-Schools and School Delegations

-Ministry of Labour

-Ministry of Justice

-General Labour Inspection

-Institute for Social Development

-Courts

-Office of Family Mediation

-Police of Public Security

-Guarda Nacional Republicana GNR)

-Services for adoption

-Hospitals

-Civil Registry Office

-Services for Strangers and Borders

-High Commissioner for refugees

The situations denounced to the LVRC as well as the complaints sent to the Ombudsman made known in some cases irregularities which justify an intervention to correct them. Therefor several recommendations were emitted, by the Ombudsman’s Office, addressed to the organs competent to alter the legislation or to correct unjust acts committed by public powers, already referred to under c) of 1.1.

A situation of negligence and incapacity by a grandmother in charge of a minor was communicated. We directed the situation to the Court which requested an information as to the social situation of the grandmother, who up to then had been in charge of the minor, as well as an information about the situation of aunt and uncle where the minor wanted to stay and where he was already living since the end of the holidays.

It was found out that at the grandmother’s house the minor passed a lot of time alone, living in the street, without any assistance in his studies, witnessing situations of such a violence and aggressiveness at home that he ran away several times in the fear that something could happen to him.

Under such circumstances the court determined to give the minor to the care of uncle and aunt as those assured him security and assistance in the domain of health, education and moral formation, whereas in his grandmother’s house his situation was precarious.

1- The School communicated a situation of a minor being maltreated by his stepfather who beat him. The situation was oriented to the CPM which took steps in order to find a measure for adequate protection. The minor is now living in a family where he established a friendly relationship as he is being assisted and his protection is being assured.

2- There was communicated the situation of a minor being maltreated by his grandmother where he was living. The facts were confirmed by the School, the situation was oriented to the CPM which undertook steps to find someone to be in charge of this minor and protect him from the aggressions he suffered.

The right to visit was not being realized, the situation was brought before the Court which asked the IRS for a Social report about the situation of the minors and about each of their progenitors in order to evaluate the reason for nonobservance and to control the visits. The situation of nonobservance is resolved and the School is informed about the father’s Power/Duty to control the children’s education, notwithstanding the fact that the mother is in charge of their education.

The minor came from Guiné in order to be operated. After hospital she was to return to her country where she should receive the treatments necessary for a good recovery. The war, however, changed the circumstances, and she had no more conditions to be assisted in Guiné.

So the return of this child would turn the treatments after operation impossible and would risk her recovery and consequently her health.

The Hospital informed the Embassy that the child would leave the hospital but that she would need more treatments. The Embassy contacted with the LVRC which found an Institution with the conditions to accomodate the child, and the Embassy took the responsability to transport the child to the treatments in the hospital where she was operated.

1- The minor was living with her parents. After their separation she stayed with her mother. The two were awaiting a decision stipulating alimony, even if provisional. The father was not giving any assistance justifying that the court had not taken any decision yet. Meantime the mother became jobless. The bad shortcomings resulting from the situation of unemployment put at risk the satisfaction of their basic needs like food, lodging and clothing.

The child contacted with LVRC and described the family’s difficulties. The LVRC oriented the case to the Commission for protection of Minors which immediately assured the meals for the child at the School and enrolled the mother in the program of the Safeguard of a Minimum Income (Rendimento Mínimo Garantido) through the Regional Centre of Social Security as the situation justified such a support.

2- The minor wrote to the Ombudsman describing his situation. The child was living with his mother in a small room they rented from a lady. This lady maltreated the child so that he stayed in the street the whole day until his mother returned from work. We contacted with the School and we oriented the situation to the Child Support Institute (Instituto de Apoio à Criança). The situation was settled and the child is being supported by the services of the School itself and of the S.C.M. (Santa Casa de Misericórdia) and the mother enrolled in the RMG (Rendimento Mínimo Garantido) having rented a home for a rent compatible with her possibilities.

The child cannot go to School by herself as she is suffering from brain paralysis and motor deficiency, on the other hand her parents have no means to carry her. So the minor was no more in a condition to go to school.

The parents wrote to the Ombudsman who oriented the case to the Regional Direction of Education (Direcção Regional de Educação) which, after compiling the necessary facts, assured the child’s transport as well as the payment for it.

A minor less than 16 years of age and without having concluded compulsory school is working in an establishment 7 to 9 hours per day doing a hard work.

The minor is victim of a situation of temporary exploration which will be finished at the beginning of the school year.

The minor contacted the LVRC which addressed to the social services of the Regional Centre of Social Security and informed the General Labour Inspection (Inspecção Geral de Trabalho), so that the minor was released from the exploring situation.

A claim for information as to the birth registration of minors made it possible to detect a mistake in counting the term legally established for the presumption of paternity, which made it possible, after contacting the responsible entity, conclude the process of registration respecting the principle of veracity.

A direct communication is done in several ways: Telephone Line free of charge, Written complaints, Internet, Personal Interview, Going to the schools, Divulging material, stickers and rulers.

Responsible for Children and Juveniles Office of the Ombudsman of Portugal

Last edited by Barneombudet March 22, 2004
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