0
Off

JUDICIAL REVIEW | ROMA RACE | NOMADS’ DOMICILE | WANDERING WAY OF LIFE | PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY

 

 

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 452/89, 28.06.1989

 

JURISDICTION: Constitutional

CASE: 15/87

SUBJECT: Judicial review

RAPPORTEUR: Raul Mateus

RULING: Declares the unconstitutionality, with general binding effects, for breach of Article 34 of the Constitution (inviolability of the domicile), of the norm in Article 81(2) of the General Regulation of the Service of the National Republican Guard, to the extent that it allowed searches in the living quarters of groups and caravans of nomads, either in transit or parked, without requiring that, absent the interested parties’ consent, the searches should be ordered by the competent judicial authority and that they should be conducted only in day-time. Does not declare the unconstitutionality, for breach of Article 13 (principle of equality), of the norms in paragraphs 1, 2 (remaining segment) and 3 of Article 81.

DOMESTIC LAW:

Constitution of the Portuguese Republic [Articles 13, 26(1), 34, 281(1)(a)]

Civil Code (Article 82)

Criminal Code (Article 176)

Code of Criminal Procedure (Articles 174 to 177)

Traffic Code [Article 17(3)]

Law no. 28/82, of 15 November 1982 [Articles 51(5), 54, 62)

Law no. 17/87, of 1 June 1987 (Single Article)

Decree-Law no. 78/87, of 17 February 1987 [Article 2(2)]

General Regulation of the Service of the National Republican Guard, approved by Order no. 722/85, of 25 September 1985 [Articles 1, 2, 3, 18(1), 34(2)(a), 43, 44, 76(3), 81, 82, 105]

Revolutionary Council, Resolution no. 179/80, 02.06.1980

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 203/86, 04.06.1986

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 208/87, 25.06.1987

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 192/88, 27.09.1988

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 238/88, 25.10.1988

Constitutional Court, judgment no. 322/89, 29.03.1989

Constitutional Commission, opinion no. 14/80, 15.05.1980

1822 Constitution (Article 5)

Constitutional Charter (Article 145 § 6)

1838 Constitution (Article 16)

1911 Constitution [Article 15(3)]

1933 Constitution [Article 8(6)]

1886 Criminal Code (Article 380)

Regulation for GNR Rural Service, approved by Decree no. 6950, of 26 September 1920 (Articles 182 to 185)

INTERNATIONAL LAW: n.a.

FOREIGN LAW:

Brazil Civil Code (Article 33)

France Criminal Code (Article 184)

France Conseil d’État, judgment Ville de Lille v. Ackermann, 02.12.1983

Italy Corte di Cassazione, judgment no. 10789, 05.12.1984

KEYWORDS: Judicial review; Roma race; nomads’ domicile; wandering way of life; principle of equality; GNR; certain huma groups; prohibition of illegitimate differentiations; citizens; special police surveillance over the Roma; groups and caravans of persons; itinerant life; purely discriminatory treatment vis-à-vis the Roma; groups’ chiefs; searches in the caravans; night searches; inviolability of the domicile; habitual residence; private and family life; motorhomes; roulottes; wagons; tents; precarious housing; negative discrimination based on race; lifestyle; collectivist perspective; groups of nomads; fairs; sedentarization; non-Roma; permanent nomadism; temporary nomadism; semi-nomadism; sedentary people in general; condition of wanderers; Roma with permanent residence; sedentary Roma; nomadic Roma; differentiation of legislative treatment; prohibition of differentiation; banned factors of inequality; similar social dangerousness; anti-social behaviour; quick sociological analysis; “pile-up” of criminality factors; nomads’ mobile domicile; nomads’ unknown identity; frequent crises of economic deprivation; situations of criminal dangerousness that nomads always bring where they go; constitutionally valid differentiations; specificities of the nomads’ lifestyle; feeling of impunity; particularly inclined to “solve” in the criminal field their economic crises; equality camp; inequality camp; circus people; Roma communities; their own community hierarchy and leadership; common popular beliefs; prejudices still culturally ingrained; potential delinquents; racial atavism; ethnic idiosyncrasies; discrimination based on the wandering way of life of the Roma; suspicion; usages and customs; ethnic and cultural traditions; society open to pluralism of ways of life; socially heterodox; tolerated; belonging to a specific ethnic group; negative discrimination against nomadic Roma; begging; vagrancy; prostitution; asocial situations

COMMENTS: Coming soon.

REFERENCES IN THE LITERATURE:

CASTRO, Alexandra, and CORREIA, André, “Ciganos e precariedade habitacional: Uma aproximação à realidade em Portugal” [Roma and housing precarity in Portugal], in AAVV, Actas do Seminário Internacional Ciganos, Territórios e Habitat, Lisbon, ISCTE, 2008, pp. 31-45.

MIRANDA, Jorge, and MEDEIROS, Rui, Constituição Portuguesa Anotada [Annotation to the Portuguese Constitution], vol. I, 2nd ed., Coimbra, Wolters Kluwer/Coimbra Editora, 2010.

PASSINHAS, Sandra, “Constituição e Direito Privado no ordenamento jurídico português: O caso da discriminação” [Constitution and Private Law in Portugal: The case of discrimination], Actualidad Jurídica Iberoamericana, no. 10, 2019, pp. 92-123.

 

 

 

Download the ruling.

 

 

 

 

Share this comment
Posted inNOMADS’ DOMICILE JUDICIAL REVIEW WANDERING WAY OF LIFE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY ROMA RACE
Tags“Pile-up” of Criminality Factors Groups of Nomads Racial Atavism Motorhomes Searches in the Caravans Night Searches Inequality Camp Equality Camp Wagons Groups' Chiefs Citizens Roma With Permanent Residence Nomadic Roma Sedentary Roma Roma Communities Common Popular Beliefs Potential Delinquents Nomads' Unknown Identity Certain Human Groups Differentiation of Legislative Treatment Constitutionally Valid Differentiations Discrimination Based on the Wandering Way of Life of the Roma Negative Discrimination Against Nomadic Roma Negative Discrimination Based on Race Nomads' Domicile Special Police Surveillance Over the Roma Specificities of the Nomads' Lifestyle Lifestyle Their Own Community Hierarchy and Leadership Banned Factors of Inequality Fairs Judicial Review Frequent Crises of Economic Deprivation Sedentary People in General Circus People GNR Groups and Caravans of Persons Precarious Housing Prejudices Still Culturally Ingrained Ethnic Idiosyncrasies Inviolability of the Domicile Suspicion Mendacity Nomads' Mobile Domicile Wandering Way of Life Non-Roma Permanent Nomadism Temporary Nomadism Collectivist Perspective Particularly Inclined To “Solve” in the Criminal Field Their Economic Crises Belonging to a Specific Ethnic Group Equality Principle Anti-Social Behaviour Prohibition of Differentiation Prohibition of Illegitimate Differentiations Prostitution Roma Race Quick Sociological Analysis Habitual Residence Roulottes Sedentarization Semi-Nomadism Feeling of Impunity Similar Social Dangerousness Condition of Wanderers Asocial Situations Situations of Criminal Dangerousness That Nomads Always Bring Where They Go Socially Heterodox Society Open to Pluralism of Ways of Life Tents Tolerated Ethnic and Cultural Traditions Purely Discriminatory Treatment Vis-à-Vis the Roma Usages and Customs Vagrancy Itinerant Life Private and Family Life