In continuity with previous years, the preponderance of complaint procedures relating to the administration of justice remains, corresponding to 63% of the requests made to this state body, with respect to this thematic unit. These procedures involve issues of judicial delays and, for this reason, the Ombudsman’s intervention is made to the Superior Councils for the Judiciary, and for the Administrative and Fiscal Courts (199), as well as the Superior Council for the Prosecution Ser(26) vice (22) . It is also worth noting the number of complaints procedures regarding the activities of auxiliary officers of justice, namely, enforcement officers (95) and insolvency administrators (14). It is stressed that the access to the law and to the courts also presents a remarkable number of complaints procedures (61, which represents an increase of 5% over the previous year), corresponding to 8% of the total. 26 complaints procedures concerning the deontology of lawyers were also opened, which motivated inquiries before the Councils of Deontology of the Portuguese Bar Association. The issues relating to road affairs rank second (133), corresponding to 18% of the total number of procedures opened in 2016 in this thematic unit. This group includes issues relating to administrative offences proceedings (57), followed by driving licenses and driving schools (33), and finally the action or omission of the bodies responsible for road traffic signs and road and transport planning (17). Within registries and notaries, 84 complaints procedures were opened (representing an increase of 5% over the previous year), of which 38 corresponded to interventions in registry matters, and only 10 dealt with the performance of notary offices. With regard to questions of internal security, 43 complaints procedures have been opened regarding either the police action, per action (22) or omission (6), or the activity in the implementation of the legal system of weapons and ammunition (11) and other internal security problems with a residual value of 4 procedures. As for the entities referred to in the complaint procedures, in addition to the interventions in the administration of justice carried out before the respective High Councils, the PSP and the GNR were also targeted, and also the criminal investigation police (PJ) and the municipal police. It should also be noted that, in terms of road law, the IMT was targeted in 53 complaints procedures and the National Road Safety Authority in 49. Similarly, municipal entities such as ECALMA, in Almada, or EMEL, from Lisbon, were also targeted. With reference to the final decisions of filing procedures taken in the year 2016, it should be highlighted the issuing of two recommendations(27) regarding road law and 10 remarks. (26)  See No. 3 of article 22 of the SPO. (27)  See Positions adopted in 2016, p. 159-171. 52 |