The “pension convergence” as a political issue

Abstract

The issue to be addressed in the following paragraphs can be put simply as follows: can ‘pension convergence’ – the term used by the legislature to describe the reduction in pensions under the civil service’s own social security system (Caixa Geral de Aposentações) with a view to bringing it into line with the general social security scheme – be regarded as a ‘political matter’, for the purpose of precluding the exercise of constitutional jurisdiction over it or, alternatively, of binding the Constitutional Court to an increased duty of deference towards the legislature?