In 2022

Crime rate in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM) increased compared to the previous year, remaining, however, below the national average

With this press release, the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) presents a time series of justice updated with the 2022 data, provided by the Directorate General of Justice Policy (DGPJ), which acts as a delegated entity of Statistics Portugal (INE) in this domain.

Courts - Number of pending cases decreased once again

Data related to the movement of cases in the first-instance judicial courts (not considering the data from courts of enforcement of sentences) in the district of Madeira indicate that, in 2022, the number of pending cases decreased by 6.1% compared to 2021. As of December 31, 2022, the number of pending cases in those courts was 12.4 thousand (13.1 thousand in 2021).

In 2022, the number of completed cases (12.8 thousand) continued to exceed the number of incoming cases (12.0 thousand). The favourable balance of approximately 800 cases justifies the aforementioned decrease in pending cases (-6.1% compared to 2021). This type of case showed successive decreases between 2015 and 2022.

In 2022, the predominance of civil court proceedings in the first-instance judicial courts (cases related to debts, leases, divorces, inventories, insolvency, business recovery, traffic accidents, distinguishing themselves from criminal, labour, and juvenile justice cases) remained. The importance of these cases is evident when analysing their movement in 2022 since they represented 64.9% of incoming cases (7.8 thousand cases), 66.1% of completed cases (8.5 thousand), and 84.1% of pending cases (10.4 thousand). The evolution of this type of cases indicates an increase in incoming cases (+26.8% compared to 2021), although there was a negative trend in completed cases (-5.8%) and pending cases (-6.2%). As the number of completed cases exceeded the number of incoming cases in 2022, the balance was -682 cases. 

The clearance rate (ratio between the number of completed cases and incoming cases), which measures the system's capacity to handle the demand in a given year, was 106.6% in 2022, a 23.6 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year (130.2%). Despite the reduction from 2021, the 2022 percentage remains above 100%, indicating progress in resolving pending cases. The clearance rate for labour and criminal lawsuits (131.6%) surpassed that of other types of cases, with the criminal case resolution rate being the lowest (99.4%).

Regarding the average duration of completed proceedings in the first-instance judicial courts, it is worth noting that civil lawsuit, although still the lengthiest in the system, reduced their duration by 21 months between 2021 (45 months) and 2022 (24 months). For juvenile cases (9 months), labour cases (14 months), and labour-related criminal cases (8 months), the values of these indicators remained consistent, while criminal cases showed a one-month reduction to 5 months.

Wholesale, retail, and vehicle repair activities accounted for the majority of bankruptcy/insolvency cases

Bankruptcy, insolvency, and business recovery cases recorded an increase of 19.9% in incoming cases (235) and a 14.4% increase in completed cases (239) compared to 2021. Notably, the number of completed cases exceeded the number of incoming cases, resulting in a 12.5% decrease in pending cases.

Regarding cases of declared bankruptcy/insolvency, there was a 17.7% increase from 2021 to 2022. The 219 cases in 2022, however, were significantly lower than the 2019 record (274). In 2022, proceedings of natural persons accounted for 81.7% of the total cases, while legal persons represented 18.3%, following a trend from 2021.

With regard to the value range of cases with declared bankruptcy/insolvency, the category "Between 10,000 euros and 49,999 euros" had the highest share (36.1%) of all cases, followed by the "Between 5,000 euros and 9,999 euros" category at 27.9%. The other two categories, "Up to 4,999 euros" and "50,000 euros or more," were less represented, making up 36.1% of all cases combined. Compared to 2021, there were changes in the expression of the four value categories under analysis, with the "Up to 4,999 euros" category having the highest share in 2021 (33.9% of the total).

Considering the Classification of Economic Activity (CAE) of private legal entities involved in insolvency proceedings decreed in 2022, it is observed that 30.0% of them were related to wholesale, retail, and vehicle repair, while 25.5% were associated with accommodation, food service, and similar activities.

Registries and Notary - Number of registration and notary acts increased

In 2022, a total of 282.3 thousand acts of registry and notary were performed in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, representing an 18.2% increase from 2021. Of these, 32.2% were related to real estate registration and 25.5% to civil registration. Less common were commercial registration (8.2%), motor vehicle registry (15.4%), and notarial acts (18.7%).

Regarding the number of public deeds, there was a 14.3% increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, with the majority being conducted in the municipality of Funchal (3.8 thousand deeds, 42.8% of the total).

Crimes - Crime rate increased

In 2022, 6.8 thousand crimes were reported by the Police Authorities in the Region, representing a 22.4% increase from the previous year (5.6 thousand).

The most significant crime categories, "crimes against persons" and "crimes against patrimony," recorded values of 2.3 thousand and 2.5 thousand, respectively, in 2022, together accounting for 70.5% of the overall total (77.0% in 2021). Compared to 2021, "crimes against patrimony " increased by 27.6%, while "crimes against persons" decreased by 1.3%.

By municipality, the results indicate that over half of the crimes reported in the Region in 2022 occurred in Funchal (3.6 thousand crimes, 52.9% of the total), followed by the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos (897 crimes, 13.2%), Santa Cruz (676 crimes, 9.9%), and Machico (485 crimes, 7.1%).

In 2022, the crime rate, calculated as the ratio of the number of crimes per 1,000 residents, was 26.9‰, higher than in 2021 (22.0‰). It should be noted that this rate was significantly lower than the national average (32.8‰) and the rate recorded in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (40.6‰). In the Region, the highest rates were observed for "crimes against patrimony " (10.0‰) and "crimes of assault" (5.9‰).

By municipality, the lowest rate was observed in Calheta (13.5‰), and the highest was in Porto Santo (46.6‰). In addition to Porto Santo, Funchal (33.8‰) and Câmara de Lobos (27.7‰) had rates above the regional average.

In 2022, law enforcement authorities identified and registered 1,018 injured / offended spouses (or akin) crimes in domestic violence crimes in the Region, an increase of 66 persons compared to the previous year (952 persons). The year 2015 had the highest number in the series (1,240 persons). About three out of every four of these injured/offended identified persons were women. Of these, 678 (66.6%) were identified in Funchal and 74 (7.3%) in Ribeira Brava.

Lawyers - Number of lawyers increased

In 2022, there were 522 lawyers enrolled in the respective Bar association in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, a 4.0% increase from 2021. Of this total, 76 were trainee lawyers (14.6% of the total), with a majority being female (68.4% of trainee lawyers). In the remaining 446 registered lawyers (85.4% of the total), men (51.3%) were more numerous than women (48.7% of registered lawyers).

Prison Establishments and Inmates - Inmate population was approximately 312 at the end of 2022

According to information provided by the DGPJ, the Funchal Prison Establishment had a prisoner population of 312 persons on December 31, 2022, which was 12.2% higher (+34 persons) than on the same day in 2021 (278 persons). This number was below the facility's capacity (349 persons). The available series for existing inmates (2005-2022) show that this indicator reached its highest value in 2022.

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