The body managing administrative courts rejected claims that the scheduling of former Prime Minister José Sócrates' 2017 lawsuit against the State for May was driven by fear of European authorities. The Superior Council of Administrative and Tax Courts (CSTAF) stated that the hearing date was part of the normal judicial process and not a result of external pressure from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Sócrates, however, argues that the sudden scheduling is a 'confession of guilt' and an attempt to avoid the success of his complaint at the ECHR regarding the excessive length of proceedings in the Operation Marquês case.