UPDATE: Legal System and Research in Portugal

Update by Raquel Ferreira Pedrosa Alves

Raquel Ferreira Pedrosa Alves is a Regulatory & Legal Adviser at ANACOM (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações/National Communications Authority) in Portugal, where she works in the areas of administrative and public law, regulation and communications. She is also a working member of the Portuguese Space Authority whose powers are currently vested in ANACOM. Raquel earned her LL.B. from the Faculty of Law at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal (1998-2003) and Advanced LL.M. in International Business Law from Católica Global School of Law, Portugal and Duke University School of Law, USA (2015/2016). She also earned Post-grade course of Law & Medicine from the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Sciences of Faculty of Law at Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal (2017) and Master’s Degree in Transnational Law from Universidade Católica Portuguesa - Lisbon School of Law, Portugal (2017-2019) with a master thesis titled “Advance Directives – What Can We Learn from the American Advance Care Model?” Between 2007 and 2015, Raquel lived and worked in Macau Special Administrative Region of People’s Republic of China, as an Associate Lawyer in a Luso-Chinese law firm, and later as a Legal Adviser at the Macau Government Health Bureau. Raquel is a permanent resident of Macau and is registered at the Macau Lawyers Association.

Published July/August 2020

(Previously updated by Tiago Fidalgo de Freitas in December 2009 and by José Caramelo Gomes and Sérgio Tomás in May/June 2014)

See the Archive Version!

1. Introduction

Portugal is one of the oldest countries of the European Continent, whose independence dates back to 1143. [1] It is located on the Iberian Peninsula and is the westernmost country in Europe. Lisbon city is the capital. Besides its continental land, the territory of the country comprises two archipelados in the Atlantic Ocean, named the Autonomous Region of Azores and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, that enjoy substancial degree of administrative autonomy. [2] The official languange is Portuguese. According to Pordata Database, Portugal has over 10.2 million inhabitants.

Portugal became a republic in the year of 1910. A dictatorship which lasted almost half a century (from 1926 to 1974) ended with the revolution of April 25, 1974, also known as the Carnation Revolution ( Revolução dos Cravos), which established a democracy in the country. The 1974 revolution started the decolonization process in what once was Portuguese Africa, ended the Colonial War and led to the independence of the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. Later on, other overseas territories/regions under Portuguese Administration, like Macao, passed to the People's Republic of China in 1999, and Timor-Leste became independent in 2002.

For more than forty years, Portugal has been a stable parliamentary republic ruled by the Portuguese Constitution adopted in 1976. The new Constitution provides for a wide range of fundamental rights (e.g., civil, political, economic, social and cultural) and guarantees a democratic and multi-party regime, based on the principles of the dignity of the human person and on the free will of the people.

As stated in article 2 of the Constitution, the Portuguese Republic is “a democratic state based on the rule of law, the sovereignty of the people, plural democratic expression and political organisation, respect for and the guarantee of the effective implementation of the fundamental rights and freedoms, and the separation and interdependence of powers, with a view to achieving economic, social and cultural democracy and deepening participatory democracy.”[3]

Portugal became a Member of the United Nations in 1955 and a Member State of the European Union (EU) in 1986. [4] It had signed the Schengen agreement in 1991 and started its implementation in 1995. On January 1, 1999 Portugal adopted the Euro as its currency. See the European Commission’s report, Portugal and the Euro . Portugal is also a member of several international organizations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

2. Sovereign Bodies

Portugal has the following sovereign bodies:

Separation of powers among the sovereign bodies of state is guaranteed by article 111 of the Portuguese Constitution.

2.1. The President of the Republic

The President of the Republic is elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage. The mandate of the President is for five-years and can be re-elected only once (articles 121, 123 and 128 of the Constitution). According to article 120 of the Portuguese Constitution, “[t]he President of the Republic represents the Portuguese Republic, guarantees national independence, the unity of the state and the proper operation of the democratic institutions, and is ex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”

When necessary the President may use the right of promulgation and the power of veto over legislation (article 136) and also the power to dismiss the Government and to the dissolve the Parliament (article 133). Competences of the President include, among others, to submit issues of relevant national interest to a referendum, to declare the state of siege or a state of emergency, and to grant pardons, commute sentences and request the Constitution Court to examine the constitutionality of norms (article 134).

In terms of international relations, as per article 135 of the Constitution, the President appoints embassadors, ratifies duly approved international treaties and declares war after Government proposal and consultation of the Council of State, including with the authorization of the Assembly of the Republic.

The President is advised by the Council of State (article 141). According to article 145 of the Constitution, the Council of State should be summoned by the President should he decide, among others, to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and dismiss the Government, declare war or piece.

2.2. The Assembly of the Republic

The Assembly of the Republic is Portugal’s unicameral parliament. Presently, it is composed by 230 members (deputies), that are elected by a universal, direct and secret suffrage for a four-year term of office (aricles 148 and 149 of the Portuguese Constitution). The national parties at the portuguese Parliament as of 2019 elections are the following: PS-Socialist Party (108 deputies), PPD/PSD-People’s Democratic Party/Social Democratic Party (79 deputies), BE-Left Bloc (19 deputies), PCP-Portuguese Communist Party (10 deputies), PEV-Ecologist Party “The Greens” (2 deputies), CDS-PP - Social Democratic Centre-Popular Party (5 deputies), PAN-People-Animals-Nature Party (4 deputies), CH-Enough Party (1 deputy), IL-Liberal Initiative Party (1 deputy) and L-Free Party (1 deputy). See election results, 14th Legistature (elected October 6, 2019) for more information.

The Assembly of the Republic has competences to legislate alongside other bodies on all other matters, except those regarding the organisation and functioning of the Government. It has competences to pass amendments to the Constitution, to pass political and administrative statutes of the Autonomous Regions, to approve the State Budget and others (article 161). In accordance with article 162 of the Constitution, the Assembly of the Republic has also the competences of scrutinising the activity of the Government and the Administration, as well as ensuring compliance with the Constitution and laws.

In addition, it has exclusive legislative competence for matters determined in the Constitution, such as elections, referendums regimes, Constitutional Court organization, national defense organization, legal regimes on state of siege and state of emergency, acquisition and loss of Portuguese citizenship, definition of the limits of territorial waters, the exclusive economic zone and the rights of Portugal to the contiguous seabed, associations and political parties, legal framework of the education system and others (article 164).

Partially exclusive legislative competences of the Assembley of the Republic are established in article 165 of the Constitution, which include, among others matters, the following: people’s legal status and capacity, rights, freedoms and guarantees, definitions of crimes, sentences and security measures, general regime/governing, the punishment of disciplinary infractions and administrative offences, general regime governing requisitions and expropriations, the basis of social secutrity system and the national health service, protection of nature and cultural heritage, creation of taxes and fiscal system, the basis of the agriculture policy and the monetary system, the organization and competences of the courts, and the statutes governing local authorities (article 165).

2.3. The Government

Under article 182 of the Portuguese Constitution “[t]he Government is the body that conducts the country’s general policy and the supreme authority in the Public Administration.” The Government is headed by the Prime Minister and is comprised by the Ministers (that meet in the Council of Ministers), Secretaries and Under Secretaries of State. One or more Deputy Prime Ministers may also be included (article 183). The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic after consulting with the parties with seats in the Assembly of the Republic and in the light of the electoral results. The remaining members of the Government are appointed by the President of the Republic upon approval from the Prime Minister (article 187).

The Government has political, legislative and administrative competences. In accordance with article 197 of the Constitution, the Government has competences to negotiate and conclude international conventions, to approve international agreements outside the scope of the Assembly of the Republic, to submit bills to the Assembly of the Republic, and to propose to the President of the Republic that matters of important national interest be subject to referendum, to pronounce on the declaration os stage of siege or state of emergency, etc (article 197).

In respect to the legislative competence, as per article 198 of the Constitution, the Government can legislate over matters that do not fall within the exclusive competence of the Assembly of Republic and also on maters that fall within the Parliament partially exclusive competence subjet to authorization of the latter. Moreover, the Government has competences to make laws that develop the principles or the basic general bases of acts of the Assembly of the Republic. The Government has the exclusive competence to legislate on matters concerning its own organization and functioning.

Currently, the Government in office (Government XXII) upon 2019 Elections is composed by the Prime Minister and a total of 19 Ministers, making it the largest of all Portuguese Governments since democracy was established after the 1974 Revolution.

2.4. The Judiciary

According to article 202 of the Portuguese Constitution, “[t]he courts are entities that exercise sovereignty with the competence to administer justice in the name of the people.” The courts are also “responsible for ensuring the defence of those citizen’s rights and interests that are protected by law, repressing breaches of democracy legality and deciding conflicts between interests, public and private.” Article 203 of the Constitution establishes that “courts are independent and subject only to the law.” According to article 205, “court decisions are binding on all public and private entities and prevail over the decisions of any other authorities.”

Moroever, court hearings are held in public, save when, in order to safeguard personal dignity or public morals or to ensure its own proper functioning, the court decides otherwise by way of a written order setting out the grounds for its decision (article 206). As per article 209 of the Portuguese Constitution, in Portugal there are several categories of courts (see TRIBUNAIS.ORG, Os Tribunais) as follows:

In Portugal, there is one maritime court, located in Lisbon, with competence over all the continental territory. The justices of the peace are courts with competence in civil proceedings where the value of the claim does not exceed €15,000. For more information on arbitration and justice of the peace, see JUSTIÇA.GOV.PT, Resolução de litígios .

Furthermore, the law shall determine the cases and forms in which the foregoing courts may form separate or joint tribunals of conflict. Without prejudice to the provisions on military courts (article 213 of the Constitution), which may be created during the period of war with competence on crimes of military nature, the existence of courts having exclusive jurisdiction for the prosecution of certain categories of crime shall be prohibited (article 209, nos. 3 and 4 of the Constitution).

Diagram 1: Structure of the Portuguese Courts

An additional note to mention that thePublic Prosecution Service ( Ministério Público) is a body within the system of administration of justice and part of the judicial branch of the State. It constitutes a magistracy similar to that of the judiciary, but separate from and independent of it. Like the judges, public prosecutors are magistrates. Despite being part of the judiciary, the Public Prosecution Service is autonomous, having its own Law no. 68/2019, of August 27 (amended by Law no. 2/2020, of March 31) and broad powers of initiative.

As per article 219 of the Constitution, the “Public Prosecutors' Office has the competence to represent the state and defend the interests laid down by law, and (…) to participate in the implementation of the criminal policy defined by the entities that exercise sovereignty, exercise penal action in accordance with the principle of legality and defend democratic legality.” In a nutshell, its purpose is to guarantee the right to equality before the law and full compliance with the laws according to the democratic principles.

3. Independent Regulatory Authorities

As in many European countries, in Portugal there are a wide range of independent regulatory authorities, with administrative and financial autonomy that play an important role in regulating different sectors of economy - such as, financial and insurance sectors, energy, communications and media sectors, competition policy and health care - in order to ensure fair competition, as well as to safeguard certain fundamental rights and to protect consumer’s rights and interests.

These authorities started emerging in the 1990s and their creation resulted from the need to effectively enforce national laws implementing EU market liberalization legislation. [5] There are several independent regulatory authorities in Portugal, the main of which are the following:

Law no. 67/2013, of August 28 last amended by Law no. 71/2018, of December 31) is the framework law on independent regulatory entities that regulate economic activity in the private, public and cooperative sectors, which establishes rules on the nature, role, creation, governance and functioning of these entitites. As per article 3, number 1 of the Framework Law, these bodies are defined as “public law bodies with the nature of independent administrative entitites, responsible for regulating economic activity, defending services of economic interest, protecting consumer’s rights and interests and promoting and defending competition in the private, public, cooperative and social sectors.” Despite the efforts in establishing a common institutional regime applied to all regulatory entities or authorities, there are a number of regulators not covered by the Framework Law, which is the case, for example, of the Bank of Portugal, ERC and INFARMED. [8]

4. Sources of Law

Statutory law (lei) is the primary source of law in the Portuguese legal system (article 1, number 1 of the Civil Code). A “law” is defined as a generic rule enacted by the bodies with legislative powers, which according to the Portuguese Constitution are the Assembly of the Republic, the Government and the Legislative Assemblies of each Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira.

As per article 5 of the Civil Code, laws shall be binding only after publication in the Portuguese Official Gazette Once a law has been published, it shall enter into force after the period stipulated in the law itself has elapsed or, where no such period is stipulated, after the period provided for in special legislation. Laws remain in force until they are revoked by another law. Number 2 of Article 7 of the Civil Code states that “[r]evocation may arise from an express declaration, from incompatibility between the new provisions and the preceding rules, or from the circumstance that a new law regulates all matters covered by a preceding law.”

The general principle is that the law only provides for the future. Even if retrospective effect is granted to the law, it shall be presumed that the effects already produced are not affected by the facts that the law intends to regulate (article 12 of the Civil Code). Legal interpretation aims to determine the meaning and scope of norms throught the application of hermeneutical methodology. It takes into consideration the grammatical and logical interpretation elements, as prescribed in article 9 of the Civil Code.

The grammatical or literal element (elemento gramatical/literal) uses the plain and ordinary meaning of the words (the text of the law). However, interpretation shall not be limited to the text of the law. The grammatical element of interpretation is complemented by the logical element (elemento lógico) of interpretation, which in turn includes the systematic, historical and teleological elements.

The systematic element (elemento sistemático) places the law in its context, that is the systematics and conceptual framework of the legal system. The historical element (elemento histórico) refers to the political, social and economic circunstances that influenced the preparation of the law (occasio legis). The intention of the legislator vis-à-vis such circunstances can be found, for example, in the preparatory works, previous drafts and materials that led to the promulgation of the law. The teleological element ( elemento teleológico) refers to the ultimate aim or goal of the law. The leading considerations concerning purpose and values embodied in the law are clarified to deduce the meaning of the law. From the conjunction of all these elements, it is possible to achieve the so-called ratio legis.

All these elements of interpretation are allowed to determine the will of the legislature. They do not exclude each other, but instead complement each other.

Diagram 2: Legal Interpretation Elements

Whenever a case or legal matter is not explicitly ruled or dealt with in written law (i.e., there is a legal omission), the Portuguese legal system allows for analogical reasoning and extensive interpretation. While analogical reasoning (interpretação analógica) is used as a tool to fill gaps in the law by applying analogically other provision or several provisions that cover similar cases to the one at hand ( analogia legis – article 10 of the Civil Code), extensive interpretation (interpretação extensiva) consists in a interpretation process that extends the standard meaning of the interpreted legal provision. Both introduce a certain degree of stability and predictability in the interpretation of law. [9]

Corporative dispositions (normas corporativas) emerging from representative organisms of different moral, cultural, economic or professional categories (e.g. professional bodies), that should not be contrary to legal imperative dispositions, are also immediate sources of law (article 1 of the Civil Code).

Custom (costume) is also regared as a source of law in Portugal, to the extent that it is not contrary to the principle of good faith and only when law so determines (article 3 of the Civil Code).

It should be noted that binding precedent does not exist in the Portuguese legal system. However, case law (jurisprudência), which arise from judicial decisions made by the courts, is relevant for the purposes of uniform interpretation and application of the law (article 8, number 3 of the Civil Code) or where otherwise specified (decisions of the Constitutional Court, as per article 281, numbers 1 and 3 and article 119, number 1, g) of the Portuguese Constitution).

As for equity (equidade), article 4 of the Civil Code states that courts may only decide according to the principle of equity when law specifically allows it, when parties agree on it and the righs are non-disposable or when parties have previously given their agreement.

Lastly, doctrine (doutrina) plays merely a secondary role as source of law in the Portuguese legal system, being usually used in the interpretation or clarification of other sources of law. [10]

5. Main Legislation

The Portuguese legal system includes the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and constitutional laws, which are at the top of the hierarchy of norms. The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic as approved by decree dated from April 10, 1976 (last amended by Law no. 1/2005, of August 12 – seventh revision). Moreover, it comprises rules and principles of international law (jus cogens), rules set out in duly ratified or approved international agreements and issued by the competent bodies of international organisations to which Portugal belongs, as well as provisions of the treaties that govern the European Union and rules issued by its institutions (article 8 of the Constitution).

As for the Portuguese ordinary laws, they include Laws (Leis) enacted by the Assembly of Republic, Decree Laws (Decretos-Lei) issued by the Government, and Regional Legislative Decrees ( Decretos Legislativos Regionais) passed by the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira (article 112 of the Constitution). Instruments with effect equivalent to that of laws, such as acts approving international conventions, treaties or agreements, generally binding decisions of the Portuguese Constitutional Court declaring the unconstitutionality or illegality of norms, collective labour agreements and other collective instruments regulating labour relations, are also regarded as sources of law.

Additionally, the national legal system includes regulations or legislative instruments of lower status than laws, whose purpose is to supplement laws and fill out the details in order to be applied or implemented (e.g., regulatory decrees, regulations, regional regulatory decrees, ministerial orders, executive rulings, and municipal orders and regulations). See The European Justice, Member State law - Portugal .[11]

Diagram 3: The Hierarchy of Laws

Diagram 3: The Hierarchy of Laws

The Portuguese Civil Code , which is the basic foundation of private law (approved by Decree Law no. 47344/66, of November 25, last amended by Law no. 85/2019, of September 3), is one of the most important codes in Portugal. This Code revoked the first Portugusese Civil Code, also known as Seabra Code ( Código de Seabra), dated from 1867.

The Portuguese legal and judicial system is a civil law system based on the Roman law traditions characterized by comprehensive law codification. The Portuguese legal system also comprises the following main (written) legislation:

6. Legal Professions and Organizations

The most important legal professions in Portugal are the following: judges, public prosecutors, lawyers, legal agents (or solicitors), enforcement agents, notaries, registrars, court officials, among others. See the European Justice, Legal professions - Portugal . There are different types of judges, as follows:

TheHigh Council for the Judiciary ( Conselho Superior de Magistratura) and the High Council for the Administrative and Tax Courts (Conselho Superior dos Tribunais Administrativos e Fiscais) are responsible for appointing and assigning the judges to their respective courts, and for taking disciplinary action agaist them.

The career of the magistrates/prosecutors of the Public Prosecution Service (Ministério Público) includes the following categories:

The High Council of the Public Prosecution Service (Conselho Superior do Ministério Público) is the highest management and disciplinary body in the Public Prosecution Service and is responsible for appointing, assigning, transferring, promoting, dismissing or removing from office public prosecutors, as well as taking disciplinary action against them.

Lawyers (Advogados) must be registered with thePortuguese Bar Association ( Ordem dos Advogados Portugueses) in order to provide legal advice and represent clients before the courts. There is no distinction between practicing lawyers similar to the distinction between barristers and solicitors in some common law countries. The Portuguese Bar Association regulates the profession and takes disciplinary action against the lawyers. According to Pordata - Data Base , in Portugal as of 2018 there were more than 32 thousand registered lawyers.

Legal Agents (or Solicitadores) provide legal advice and legal representation in court within the limits imposed by their statute and procedural legislation. They may represent the parties in court whenever legal representation by a lawyer is not legally mandatory and they may also provide legal representation outside of court (e.g., before tax administration, notary offices, registrar offices and public administration bodies).

Enforcement Agents (Agentes de Execução) do not represent any of the parties, instead are responsible for carrying out civil enforcement activities. The Order of Legal Agents and Enforcement Agents (Ordem dos Solicitadores e dos Agentes de Execução) is responsible for regulating these professions. TheCAAJ ( Comissão para o Acompanhamento dos Auxiliares de Justiça) is responsible for supervising and exercising disciplinary action over Enforcement Agents.

Notaries (Notaries) give legal form and public faith to legal extrajudicial acts. TheOrder of Notaries ( Ordem dos Notários) regulates notaries’ activities jointly with the Ministry of Justice.

Registrars (Conservadores dos Registos) are public officials responsible for registring and publicising legal acts and facts relating to immoveable property, and moveable property that must be registered according to the law, as well as business actitives and certain people’s life events (e.g. birth, death, marriage). Registrars are organized in accordance with different subject areas: civil, real state, commercial and vehicles. The Institute of Registries and Notary is responsible for implementing and monitoring register service policies in order to provide services to citizens and companies in different areas, as listed above, and also for ensuring regulation, control and oversight of activities of notaries.

Court Officials (Oficiais de Justiça) are a category of justice official that provide assistance in the courts and public prosecution services. TheCouncil of Court Officials ( Conselho dos Oficiais de Justiça) is responsible for assessing the professional merit of these officials and for exercising disciplinary authority over them.

7. Legal Education and Law Universities

Access to legal professions in general requires a law degree from a Portuguese university. Each legal profession mentioned above has its own access and admission requirements and procedures. For example, the Centre for Judicial Studies (CEJ - Centro de Estudos Judiciários) is responsible for the training of judges and public prosecutors for courts of law while the Portuguese Bar Association is responsible for organising and providing training to lawyers.

In order to obtain a law degree (licenciatura em direito) students have to complete four years of study (i.e., eight semesters) corresponding to a total of 240 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). The law degree is the first cycle of studies in the higher legal education timeline. Its main objective is to provide students with a solid legal education in all areas of law in order to prepare them for the professional practice of legal activities.

The second cycle, should the student pursue further higher education studies for specialization purposes, consists in the master of laws degree (mestrado em direito). The Master of Laws degree is accessible to holders of a Law degree and it will be achieved when the student obtain a total of 120 ECTS. Curriculums often combine an initial part of taught pratical courses and then a subsequent part of research and preparation of a thesis, being the oral disseration the final element of the Master’s degree. The program usually takes two years to complete. Although some programs offered adopted the designation of “LL.M.”, in Portugal the LL.M. normally corresponds to only a one-year postgrade program. The main difference with the classical Master in Laws (mestrado em direito) is that this takes two years to compelete and involves the preparation and public defense of a scientific dissertation.

The third and last cycle of studies is the doctorate in law (PhD) program ( doutoramento). Usually, is accessible to holders of a Master's degree and frequently lasts three to four years (or six to eight semesters) corresponding to 180 ECTS. To conclude the doctoral degree, students must prepare an original thesis subjected to a public oral defense.

Law programs are structured according to the Bologna Process, which was implemented in Portugal in 2006-2007, governed by Decree-Law no. 74/2006, of March 24 (last amended by Decree-Law no. 65/2018, of August 16). Below is a list of universities in Portugal that offer law degrees, Postgraduate Law degrees, Master of Laws degrees and Doctorate (PhD) in Law programs, as well as various other law specialization courses:

Public Universities

Private Universities

Please note that that the above are informative lists that do not represent a ranking order.

Altough Portuguese is the official language of legal studies, a number of Universities have some advanced programs taught in English, such as:

8. Research Databases

Major open access research databases in Portuguese and available for consultation free of charge:

Open access free of charge websites that offer non-official English translations of legislation:

The IJP - Instituto Jurídico Portucalense provides a database with access to non-offical versions/translations in English of pieces of legislation related to the following subjects: political systems, telecoms, communications, data protection, criminal matters (e.g. cybercrime), access to administrative documents, aslyum and refugees, banking and finance, international judicial cooperation, mental health, ombudsman and passports.

Other relevant links with information on legislation in English:

9. Bibliography

The majority of legal books and publications are written by legal professionals in Portuguese. Some of the major legal publishers are:

Administrative Law

Administrative Procedure Law

Civil Law

Civil Procedure Law

Commercial Law

Constitutional Law

Criminal Law

Criminal Procedure Law

Fundamental Rights

Health Law

Intellectual and Industrial Property Law

Introduction to the Study of Law

Labour and Social Security Law

Law of Obligations

Public Finances and Tax Law

Public Procurement

Regulation

Urban Planning and Environment Law

Moreover, there is a considerable number of periodical publications. Below is a non-exhaustive list of legal journals and periodicals, in Portuguese, by subject:

Some Law Firms also have publications (e.g., newsletters, papers and articles) of legal interest in English:



[1] Rodrigues, António Simões, “História de Portugal em Datas”, Edição Círculo de Leitores, 1994.

[2] Saraiva, José Hermano, “Portugal, A Companion History ”, Carcanet, 2012.

[3] All citations of the Portuguese Republic Constitution in this article are from the english translation edition, available at the website of the Portuguese Official Gazette .

[4] Weatherill, Stepen, and Beaumont, Paul, EU Law, “The essential guide to the legal workings of the European Union”, Pinguin Books, 1999.

[5] Moreira, Vital, e Maçãs, Fernanda, “Autoridades Reguladoras Independentes, Estudo e Projeto de Lei-Quadro”, Coimbra Editora, 2003.

[6] The Bank of Portugal was established by Royal Charter on November 19,1846.

[7] AdC has regulatory powers on competition over all sectors of economy including the regulated sectors.

[8] Diniz, Carlos Botelho, e Melo, Pedro de Gouveia, “The New Framework Law on Independent Regulatory Atuhotiries in Portugal”, European Public Law 21, number 1 (Kluwer Law International BV 2015), 3-30.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Neto, Abílio, “Código Civil, Anotado”, 20ª Edição Actualizada, 2018, Ediforum, Lisboa. See also, Ascensão, José de Oliveira, “O Direito, Introdução e Teoria Geral”, Reimpressão da 13.ª Edição de Março/2005, Almedina, 2017.

[11] Canotilho, José Joaquim Gomes, “Direito Constitutional e Teoria da Constituição”, Reimpressão da 7.ª Edição de 2003, Almedina, 2018.

[12] For a partial translation into English of the Portuguese Criminal Code (dated from 2006), see VERBOJURÍDICO, The Portuguese Penal Code, General Part (Articles 1-130) .