Brussels, 21/11/2013 (Agence Europe) On Thursday 21 November, the European Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights, Viviane Reding, welcomed the reforms undertaken by Portugal on the functioning of the justice system. Receiving her counterpart Paula Teixeira Da Cruz in Brussels, the commissioner praised the country's efforts to ensure that its system works more “to the service of growth” and to reduce backlogs, as these reforms include a new insolvency regime for businesses, a new code of civil procedure and a new dispute resolution mechanism. These reforms started in 2011. The commissioner said that Portugal, which has had serious economic problems, needs these reforms even more due to the fact that the country is in crisis. And it must serve as an example to all other member states, she added, as the Portuguese reforms have made it possible to put an end to a series of shortcomings in the system. In 2012, however, a number of the legal professions spoke out against the reforms recommended by the troika, particularly lawyers, a profession for which the country's creditors are calling for deregulation. (SP/transl.fl)