Operation Marquês trial handed to judge with less than four years experience

Former Portuguese prime minister José Sócrates will stand trial in a secondary branch of the long-running Operation Marquês corruption case before a three-judge panel led by a judge with fewer than four years of judicial experience – an appointment that departs from the usual requirements for Portugal’s central criminal courts.

The trial concerns allegations of three counts of money laundering against Sócrates and businessman Carlos Santos Silva. Both men deny wrongdoing (as they have been doing for more than a decade…).

The case will be heard at the Lisbon Central Criminal Court.

The proceedings were originally assigned in July 2025 to Judge Vítor Teixeira de Sousa, who left the court after being appointed by parliament to the High Council for the Judiciary (CSM) in April this year.

Responding to questions from Lusa news agency, the CSM confirmed that the case will instead be presided over by Judge Rúben Vieira, who will take up a substitute position at the Lisbon Central Criminal Court on September 1 as part of the annual judicial appointments.

According to the judiciary’s seniority list, Vieira had two years, 11 months and 27 days of judicial service at the end of 2025, meaning he will have accumulated fewer than four years’ experience when he assumes the post.

Legal exception invoked

The CSM acknowledged that appointments to Portugal’s central criminal courts generally require judges to have at least 10 years of service and an evaluation rating of “Good with Distinction”.

However, it said Portuguese law allows exceptions where no candidates meet those criteria.

“When there are no candidates who satisfy those requirements, the law permits the appointment of judges who do not fulfil them,” the judicial council said in a written response that will raise many eyebrows, if not loud guffaws.

The CSM declined to comment on whether it considered it appropriate for such a relatively inexperienced judge to preside over the trial of a former prime minister in a case that has, in the troubled past, been described as one of the most complex in Portuguese judicial history.

“The High Council for the Judiciary does not comment on individual placement decisions or make judgments regarding the suitability of specific judges for particular cases,” said the entity, adding that all Portuguese judges complete specialised training at the Centre for Judicial Studies before taking office and exercise their judicial functions “with complete independence and responsibility.”

No date has yet been set for the start of the trial.

Separate case from Operation Marquês

The money laundering case is separate from the main Operation Marquês proceedings, following a controversial pre-trial ruling issued in 2021 by Judge Ivo Rosa that significantly reshaped the prosecution before subsequent appeals altered parts of that decision.

The principal Operation Marquês trial has been underway since July 3, 2025, before a different judicial panel at the Lisbon Central Criminal Court.

That case involves 21 defendants, including Sócrates and Santos Silva, who face a combined total of 117 alleged economic and financial crimes said to have been committed between 2005 and 2014, including corruption. The defendants have broadly denied all allegations, and following all kinds of legal manoeuvres that have massively delayed the process, a number of them are thought to be likely to ‘expire’ soon due to time bars.

In spite of all this, reports today continue to insist that “Operation Marquês remains Portugal’s largest and most politically significant corruption case”, centring as it does on allegations that José Sócrates accepted millions of euros in illicit payments while serving as prime minister between 2005 and 2011.

Source material: Lusa/ Executive Digest