PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreia Candeias Mousinho, Diogo Duarte Campos, João Marques Mendes and Raquel Freitas, PLMJ
7. Personal Liability 7.1 Directors and Other Officers Environmental Administrative Offences
applicable, and how these criteria contribute to the company’s business strategy, long-term interests and sustainability. • The Balanced Gender Representation Law (Law 62/2017) ensures gender parity in management positions and the supervisory bodies of public sec- tor entities and listed companies. • Companies with over 75 employees must hire a percentage of staff with significant disabilities, as per the Employment of Persons with Disabilities Law (Law 4/2019). • The Labour Code guards against discrimination and addresses workers’ health and safety. • The Gender Salary Equality Law (Law 60/2018) promotes gender-neutral pay structures. • The Protection for Whistle-Blowers Law (Law 93/2021) safeguards individuals reporting specific violations. 6.6 Environmental Audits Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) During the post-evaluation phase of the EIA, audits should be conducted to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions set forth for project approval within the EIA process. In exceptional and duly substantiated cases, addi- tional measures may be established in this phase to minimise or compensate for significant unforeseen negative impacts. Control of Major-Accident Hazards (Seveso) Higher hazard levels, as established in the Seveso leg- islation, are subject to specific prevention measures, which come with various obligations that are subject to annual audits and inspections. Waste Treatment Activity Establishments where waste treatment activities are carried out are subject to inspections to ensure com- pliance with the legal conditions established in the licence, as well as an overall re-examination of their operating conditions every seven years. EU ETS Under the ETS regime, there is an annual procedure of monitoring, reporting and verifying operators’ emis- sions. This is known as the ETS compliance cycle.
Directors, managers and other persons who hold management positions (even if only de facto) in legal entities (even if irregularly constituted) and any other similar entities are responsible on a subsidiary level for: • fines imposed for infractions regarding acts that took place during the period when they held their positions, or for previous acts if they are responsi- ble for the company’s assets or the legal person is unable to pay the fine; • fines due for previous acts when the definitive decision to apply them was notified during their term of office and the failure to pay is attributable to them; and • the procedural costs resulting from the proceed- ings brought under the framework law for environ- mental administrative offences. If several individual persons are responsible for the wrongful acts or omissions that result in the insuf- ficiency of the assets, their responsibility is joint and several. Civil Liability and Liability for Environmental Damage When the harmful activity is attributable to a legal per- son, the obligations arising from the legal framework on liability for environmental damage are jointly and severally levied on such person’s managers, directors or persons with leading functions. Environmental Crimes Persons occupying a leadership position may be liable on a subsidiary basis for the payment of fines and compensation for which the legal person or equivalent entity is convicted. If several individual persons are responsible under these terms, their responsibility is joint and several.
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