IL wants to defend private property with immediate eviction and heavy penalties for squatters

On the very day that the new legislature begins its activities, with the discussion of the Government Program, the Liberal Initiative is moving forward with one of the promises made during the electoral campaign for the legislative elections of May 18: a project to punish squatters in an exemplary manner and thus discourage illegal occupations of houses, as has been seen throughout the country.

"The first proposal of the Liberal Initiative in this legislature aims to defend private property, with a proposal to amend the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure", reads the document put forward by the parliamentary group of liberals, who want to see the penalties for those who commit the crime of illegal occupation increased and to enable very rapid eviction, decided by a magistrate within the scope of the criminal proceedings within a maximum period of 48 hours.

"The Liberal Initiative intends that, after identifying the appropriation of a house without consent, the suspect be identified and brought before a judge within a maximum of 48 hours so that coercive measures can be ordered. In this sense, the judge, after analyzing the evidence collected by the Public Prosecutor's Office, will have at his disposal the possibility of ordering the coercive measure of immediate departure from the occupied house", explains the IL document, highlighting the objective of quickly and effectively resolving "a problem that shows signs of getting worse in Portugal", with squatters who take advantage of the absence of the legitimate owner to move into houses that do not belong to them.

The changes proposed by the Liberal Initiative thus aim to "increase the criminal censorship of these abusive behaviors by increasing the applicable penalties" and to create a new legislative framework that will allow the law enforcement agencies to "intervene practically immediately, to properly armed with a judicial decision, vacate the homes".