Traffic accident

An official had a traffic accident while on duty, during a driving test he was supervising as an examiner . As a result of the accident, he developed pathologies and was eventually granted a permanent disability , with a regular pension. However, he argued that his disability should be considered as resulting from an "act of service" (or at least aggravated by the service) and therefore requested an extraordinary pension in accordance with RDLeg 670/1987 art. 47.2 (LCP).

The Administration denied it stating, essentially, that the cause relationship was not clear. effect between the accident and the disability, and also that there were other ailments , some even prior to the accident. The official went to court.

In the process before the TSJ, the plaintiff requested a judicial expert report (a report from a specialist in occupational medicine) to demonstrate precisely what was the core of the case , whether the accident suffered in service had caused or aggravated the injuries that led to disability. The TSJ accepted documentation, but rejected that expert report considering it "unnecessary," and maintained the denial when resolving the appeal, relying on the fact that there were already sufficient reports (also mentioning the option of final proceedings, LJCA art. 61.2, which was not applied later).

In the end, the judgment dismissed the claim stating that causality had not been proven, that is, exactly what the official wanted to prove with the expert report. That's why he appealed in cassation. The Supreme Court (TS) gives reason when considering that his right to evidence was violated (linked to effective judicial protection), because he requested the expert report on time , it was relevant, and the lawsuit was lost precisely due to "lack of evidence" on that point. In addition, it points out that the High Court of Justice relied almost solely on the reports from the administrative file and did not expressly assess the medical documentation provided by the party.

For all these reasons, the High Court annuls the judgment and orders to revert the proceedings so that the medical expert report is carried out and, afterwards, a new judgment is issued considering all the evidence as a whole.