Text Priscila S. Nazareth Ferreira*
This statement does not sound good to many people, because they are used to “hostilizing” the lawyer. It’s natural, since this professional is always against someone and in favor of his client, so you have to choose a side. In addition to this uproar, lawyers are also viewed with some disdain by some individuals who do not understand the role of this professional. Some fear us, because they believe that legal knowledge invokes the power to circumvent the law. Pure folklore.
The lawyer is the only instrument of justice guaranteed to the citizen, who through this professional has access to the figure of the judge, the one responsible for restoring the offended right. But what happens when the offense against the law is against the lawyer himself? I’m talking about CPAS. The Lawyers and Solicitors Provident Fund. Do you know how lawyer retirement works? The right to maternity benefit? What happens if we have an accident? Or if we have a serious illness?
The Portuguese parliament has already been debating bills to give lawyers the right to choose a general pension scheme, the same available to doctors, dentists, engineers, architects, etc., in other words, independent professionals like us. Some have expired and today persist, until who knows when. PL 127/XVII/1st is under discussion and aims to recognize the right to choose the pension regime. And why is this choice so necessary? The truth is that CPAS does not guarantee any stability to active lawyers, nor does it guarantee dignified retirement to those who have left the profession.
Try getting sick. Try having children. Try having a serious accident. At these times, the house that should give you support is the one that offers you crumbs. Crumbs so insignificant that they do not even allow the professional to pay the costs of maintaining his own office, such as rent and services, perhaps guaranteeing him the dignity of paying his own bills.
I give myself as an example of this impropriety. Exactly 11 months ago I had a baby. According to CPAS accounts, I am entitled to 476 euros to be paid for a total of 1,905 euros. For the most fortunate, the installment can reach 952.50 euros.
Click here and follow the DN Brasil channel on WhatsApp!
It turns out that if the same calculation were applied to an independent professional who had the same condition, as maternity benefit, the values would be substantially higher, with a disconcerting “snag”: the monthly contribution value of the lower professional.
Simple math means: I pay more at CPAS and receive less. The independent worker benefit is 100% of the reference salary, that is, I receive four months for what I actually declare. And not a naughty calculation between so much and so much as happens with CPAS.
The textual limit exists, and in less than three thousand words it is not possible to point out all the concrete reasons why this entity should no longer exist. And in a solution for now, its extinction could be completely absorbed by the general pension regime, with the administration of the funds by the new entity. The problem? Extinction of positions, loss of protagonism, recognition that, deep down, there was a ferocious elephant in the room for years pretending to be a mouse.
So the question remains: after all, what is the CPAS for? As a lawyer with less than ten years in the profession, ask yourself what security this body offers you and start looking for new ways to guarantee your retirement. Otherwise, it could be the lawyer who, at the age of 70, moves to the legal profession not for the love of the law, but because he needs to top up his bank balance for old age bread.
There is a lot of talk about the rights of immigrants, minorities, the less privileged. And little is said about those who worthily seek social justice for countless people at all times. If there is no justice without lawyers, it is time to do justice to lawyers.
*Priscila S. Nazareth Ferreira, Private International Law lawyer at the service of citizens and the legal profession.