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September 10th marked the beginning of the VIII edition of the Portuguese Congress of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents. The Congress Center of Caldas da Rainha was the chosen place for this event, which had several moments of reflection and debate on topics of major importance both for the professionals and for the life of the Solicitors and Enforcement Agents National Association (OSAE).

The morning began with the opening ceremony of the VIII Congress, in which more than 300 people have participated, including members and guests. This session was chaired by the Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, and was also attended by José Carlos Resende, President of OSAE, Fernando Manuel Tinta Ferreira, Mayor of Caldas da Rainha, João Manuel da Silva Miguel, Director of Center for Judicial Studies, Juan Carlos Estévez, President of the General Council of Prosecutors of Spain, Marc Schmitz, President of the International Union of Judicial Officers, and Dulce Manuel da Conceição Neto, President of the Supreme Administrative Court.

Before the interventions have started, there was a minute of silence for the death of the illustrious Jorge Sampaio, as a gesture of respect and homage to the former politician and President of the Portuguese Republic.

With the theme “One Portal, all Services”, Rui Miguel Simão, 1st Secretary of the General Council

of OSAE, presented a new informatic portal that aims to promote the services of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents and to bring into line the many platforms that these professionals already use in their daily lives.

After the lunch break, took place in one Auditorium a round table about “Legal documents and Technology”, moderated by Armando A. Oliveira, 1st Vice-President of the General Council of OSAE, and which included the participation of Jorge Silva, President of the Notaries Association, Filomena Rosa, President of the Director Council of the Registries and Notaries Institute (IRN), Carla Mendonça, Deputy Coordinator at eBUPi, and Lénia Conde S. Alves, Member of the Professional Council of College of Solicitors. In this initiative, there was an opportunity to deepen the issue of deeds, divorces or other documents produced using technological means. The Solicitors’ objective is to guarantee that the rights of those involved are assured, in order to mitigate all possible scenarios of threats, coercion or other factors that affect people’s free will and clarification.

While this panel was taking place, the theme “Consolidating the role of the Enforcement Agent” was introduced in a dedicated Auditorium. Developed through the roundtable “Seizure and attachement of digital assets”, it was moderated by the Enforcement Agent Bárbara Filipa Pinheiro. In this debate, – in which Rui Miguel Simão, 1st Secretary of the General Council of OSAE, David Silva Ramalho, Lawyer, Ricardo Vieira, Inspector of the Judiciary Police, and Patrick Gielen, Enforcement Agent from Belgium participated -, the Enforcement Agents showed committed to work over the regulation of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

After that, it was time to talk about “Task Optimization”. In this panel, Vanda Santos Nunes, Treasurer of the General Council of OSAE, focused her intervention on explaining how to quickly and practically optimize some of the main financial tasks performed daily by professionals.

After a brief coffee break, the proposals of the College of Solicitors (CSOL) and of the College of Enforcement Agents (CAE) were presented, discussed and voted on. In the Main Auditorium were Júlio Santos, President of Professional Council of the College of Solicitors, and Lénia Conde S. Alves, Member of Professional Council of the College of Solicitors, along with the members of the working group: Delfim Costa, Pedroso Leal, Ana Cristina Barrocas, Armando A. Oliveira and Débora Riobom dos Santos. At the same time, the Small Auditorium was attended by Jacinto Neto, President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, Mara Fernandes, Vice-President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, and the other Members of the Working Group: Duarte Pinto, Brás Duarte, Armando Branco, Marta Mendes and Cristina Frade.

At the end of the first day of Congress, we could make a very positive balance of the event,  marked by numerous opportunities for personal and professional enrichment and various moments of socializing, exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences among the participants.

Time didn’t stop and the second and last day of the VIII Congress of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents quickly arrived. The Cultural and Congress Center came alive at 10am for the first panels of the day. In the Main Auditorium, and within the theme “Sustainability and safety in the profession”, was addressed at a round table that included interventions by José Manuel Oliveira, Member of the Board of the Director Council of Lawyers and Solicitors Social Security Pension Fund (CPAS), Tânia Lima da Mota, President of the CPAS Working Group, Luis Ignacio Ortega, from the General Council of Prosecutors of Spain, and Paulo Pedroso, University Professor and former Secretary of State for Labor and Social Solidarity. Moderated by José Carlos Resende, President of OSAE, these interventions focused on the analysis of the response given by CPAS in the context of the pandemic.

Simultaneously in the Small Auditorium the Youth Space began with the presentation session of the 5th case study of the Solicitadores training program. This moment had as special recipients the trainees of the Internship for Solicitors, who had a special panel of speakers to promote a multidisciplinary approach to the case study: Mara Fernandes, Vice-President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, Marco Antunes, Member of the Professional Council of the College of Solicitors, and João Pedro Amorim, Board Member of the Botto Machado Training Institute (IFBM) of OSAE. The works continued, in the Main Auditorium, with the panel “Protocoled Services”. At this time, Daniel Sales, Member of the OSAE Assembly of Representatives, gave an explanation to the congressperson on the Regulation of Protocoled Services, approved by the General Assembly on December 30 of 2020 and published in “Diário da República” on January 14 (Regulation No. 47/2021).

After a short coffee break and, of course, the usual socializing, the presentation, discussion and voting of new proposals took place. At the table were José Carlos Resende, President of OSAE, Anabela Veloso, President of the Coimbra Regional Council of OSAE, Carlos de Matos, President of the Superior Council of OSAE, and the other Members of the Working Group: Manuel Rascão Marques and David Lemos Morgado.

Energies recovered during the lunch period, which once again also served to continue the topics discussed, Solicitors and Enforcement Agents headed to the Main Auditorium, where the program continued full of relevant and current issues for professionals through the theme “Ensuring the quality of our services”.

Thus, the round table “Training and quality of services” began. Here, Armando A. Oliveira, 1st Vice-President of the General Council of OSAE, Edgar Taborda Lopes, Coordinator of Training of the Center for Judiciary Studies (CEJ), and João Ferreira da Silva, Advisor to the President of the Association of Certified Accountants (OCC), discussed the importance of training for members and the creation of new training methods.

The theme ended with the panel “The creation of training contents”, in which Débora Riobom dos Santos, Associate Director of the IFBM of OSAE, summarized the many trainings and initiatives that have been promoted by this department.

At the same time, in the Small Auditorium, the “Young Ideas Forum” was held, a space that aimed the debate between colleagues and future colleagues, both to bring new ideas and to promote what is going well and what can still be improved in the context of training or internship, in order to enrich the activity of these professionals. The participants on this theme were Rute Baptista Pato, 2nd Secretary of the General Council of OSAE, Luís Coelho, Member of the General Council of OSAE, Anabela Veloso, President of the Coimbra Regional Council of OSAE, João Pedro Amorim, Board Member of the IFBM of OSAE, Joaquim Fernandes, Solicitor and Enforcement Agent, and Sandra Santos Silva, Solicitor.

Without further delay, in the Main Auditorium the proposed recommendations began to be presented and discussed. José Carlos Resende, President of OSAE, Anabela Veloso, President of the Coimbra Regional Council of OSAE, Carlos de Matos, President of the Superior Council of OSAE, and the other Members of the Working Group – Manuel Rascão Marques and David Lemos Morgado – were present on the table.

The coffee break brought the certainty that time was passing very quickly, as it was then time to vote on the conclusions of the Congress. José Carlos Resende, President of OSAE, Jacinto Neto, President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, Mara Fernandes, Vice-President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, Carlos de Matos, President of the Superior Council of OSAE, Armando Oliveira, President of the General Assembly of OSAE, Júlio Santos, President of the Professional Council of the College of Solicitors, and Lénia Conde S. Alves, Member of the Professional Council of the College of Solicitors.

Once the proposals for recommendations had been presented and voted on, the Congress was close to an end. Presided over by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Henrique Araújo, the closing session already left nostalgia in everyone present. The President of OSAE, José Carlos Resende, the Secretary of State for Justice, Anabela Pedroso, the President of the Coimbra Regional Council of OSAE, Anabela Veloso, the President of the Professional Council of the College of Enforcement Agents, Jacinto Neto, the President of the Professional Council of the College of Solicitors, Júlio Santos, and the President of the General Assembly of OSAE, Armando Oliveira, were also present at the meeting.

And so came the end of the VIII Congress of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents. It ended with the hope that from now on we will never separate again. It happened in Caldas da Rainha and will be remembered by everyone who lived it.