PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joaquim Shearman de Macedo, Pedro Metello de Nápoles, Luís Heleno Terrinha and Ana Coimbra Trigo, PLMJ
• Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Par - liament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order (EEO) for uncon - tested claims (the “European Enforcement Order Regulation”). At the international level, Portugal is a signatory to the following conventions relevant for the enforcement of foreign judgments originating from non-EU countries: • Convention on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Com - mercial Matters of the European Community with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland of 30 October 2007 (the “Lugano Convention”); • Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements (the “2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention”); • Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recogni - tion and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “2019 Hague Judg - ments Convention”); and • bilateral conventions on judicial co-operation in civil and commercial matters (with special rules the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments) concluded with Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea- Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Macao. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Variations in approach to the enforcement of foreign judgments arise depending on their jurisdiction of ori - gin, since the latter will determine the applicable legal framework. Judgments from EU member states falling within the scope of the aforementioned EU regulations have the effect provided therein. In particular, EU judgments in civil and commercial matters to which the Recast Brussels Regulation is applicable are automatically recognised and enforceable in Portugal, without the need for a special procedure or declaration of enforce - ability. The same holds for decisions on matrimonial matters made in one EU member state, which must also be recognised and enforced in Portugal without following any special procedures pursuant to Regula - tion (EC) No 2201/2003.
For EU judgments not covered by the EU regulations or for non-EU foreign judgments, the approach to recognition and enforcement will be determined by Portuguese civil procedure law or by the rules laid out in international multilateral or bilateral conventions. In absence of an applicable international multilateral or bilateral convention, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is subject to a special procedure of revision and confirmation governed by the Portu - guese Civil Procedure Code. The Portuguese system is qualified as one of mere formal revision of the foreign judgment. This means that the Portuguese court will only verify that the foreign judgment is compliant with applicable form requirements, without delving into the merits of the judicial decision at stake. This is also known as an exequatur proceeding. Portuguese case law on recognition of foreign judgments has admitted a so-called privilege of nationality as a ground for the opposition to the request for recognition, as provided for in Portuguese civil procedural law. This allows a party to oppose the request for recognition in cases in which the foreign judgment was issued against a physical or moral person of Portuguese nationality if the latter is able to demonstrate that the result of the legal action would have been more favourable to her should the foreign court have applied Portuguese substantive law (whenever the latter could be deemed as the applicable law pursuant to Portuguese private international law rules). It is also worth noting that foreign judgments in crimi - nal matters follow a special procedure laid out in the Portuguese Criminal Procedure Code. Should an international multilateral or bilateral con - vention be applicable, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments falling within its scope are bound to the special rules laid therein. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced In general, Portuguese law does not distinguish between categories of foreign judgments for purposes of recognition and enforcement. Foreign judgments falling outside either of the scope of EU Regulations or of multilateral and/or bilateral
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