PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joaquim Shearman de Macedo, Pedro Metello de Nápoles, Luís Heleno Terrinha and Ana Coimbra Trigo, PLMJ
international conventions signed by Portugal, will be subject to a special procedure of revision and confir - mation governed by Portuguese civil procedural law. These rules set out a number of requirements that the foreign judgment must meet to be recognised and enforced in Portugal. The following categories of for - eign judgments will not be enforced: • if the judgment is not final under the law of the jurisdiction where it was issued; • if the defendant was not served with the claim in accordance with the law of the foreign court; • if the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of the parties were not observed; and • if recognition leads to a result that is manifestly incompatible with the Portuguese principles of international public order. Portuguese international public policy includes those legal principles taken as absolutely essential and indispensable to the Portuguese legal system. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments Subject to special regimes set out by bilateral or mul - tilateral conventions, the legal framework under which a foreign judgment rendered outside the EU may be recognised and confirmed in Portugal is the Portu - guese Code of Civil Procedure. The procedure to seek recognition may be summarised as follows. • The creditor of the foreign judgment will seek an exequatur in accordance with the rules of the special procedure for the revision and confirma - tion of a foreign judgment. This legal action aims at merely confirming that the foreign judgment fulfils all requirements to be recognised and enforced as a judicial order in the Portuguese legal system. • The exequatur ought to be initiated before the appellate court of the registered domicile of the defendant. • The creditor files its claim accompanied by the original or authentic copy of the foreign judgment to be recognised (and, if not in Portuguese, duly translated). After an initial review by the court to verify if it was submitted with all required elements, the court will notify the defendant to present its opposition to the request. The defendant is entitled
to present its defence and the creditor is allowed to reply. • The parties, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, will then be allowed to present final pleadings before a hearing and decision takes place. • The appellate court’s decision, once issued, is sub - ject to appeal in accordance with Portuguese civil procedural law. For purposes of subsequent enforcement of the for - eign judgment, the creditor shall initiate enforcement proceedings in a territorially competent first instance court (either the court of the opposing party’s domi - cile or the court of the place where the enforcement is sought). These will be filed together with a copy of the decision, proof of power of attorney, as well as any other document relevant for the enforcement. Fol - lowing a hearing and enforcement order by the judge, the creditor will be entitled to appoint an enforcement agent to proceed with enforcement actions. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments Time taken to obtain recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments will vary in accordance with the particular appellate court. In general, it is fair to esti - mate a period from three to nine months to a obtain a decision on recognition and enforceability. Judicial fees due depend on the amount of the claim, varying between EUR102 and EUR1,632. In case the claim amount exceeds EUR275,000, an additional EUR306 will be due for every EUR25,000 multiple. However, in the latter instance, the remnant of the judicial fee will be considered at the final decision on costs, but the court may decide to charge it. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Foreign judgments issued by EU member states will be subject to the grounds for refusal set out in EU Regulations. In particular, Portuguese courts will apply Article 45 of the Recast Brussels Regulation pursuant to which there will be no recognition and enforcement of: • judgments manifestly contrary to public policy in the member state addressed;
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