PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Bárbara Marinho e Pinto, Amanda Bueno Almeida and Lua Mota Santos, Rogério Alves & Associados Sociedade de Advogados, SP, RL
To expedite service, Portuguese authorities may resort to alternative methods when permitted by the foreign country and authorised by the Portuguese court. These may include electronic service, registered mail, or use of consular channels. In urgent situations, courts may approve substituted service methods. Regardless of the method used, all procedures must comply with the laws of the receiving country and uphold due process guarantees to ensure the validity and fairness of the proceedings. Portuguese criminal law provides judicial authorities seizure and confiscation measures of any material or instruments used to commit offences (kept for evi - dence) and proceeds obtained from offences. These measures are, in general, established in the Portuguese Code of Criminal Procedure, in Article 178 (1), and more thoroughly in a complementary law, Law No 5/2002 of 11/01. This law reinforces and facilitates seizure and confiscation measures (such as breach of financial secrecy and record of sound and images) regarding specific crimes such as humans, drugs, cars and arms trafficking, influence peddling, all kinds of terrorist organisations crimes, corruption, money laundering, criminal association, child pornog - raphy and prostitution, prostitution, sports coercion and fraudulent sports practices, money and credit card counterfeiting and smuggling. 5.2 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Portugal is adherent of European and international conventions and co-operates with other states in accordance with the principle of reciprocity. 5. Enforcement 5.1 Methods of Enforcement In Portugal, the enforcement of foreign judgments requires review and confirmation ( reconhecimento ) by the Portuguese courts under the Civil Procedure Code and Private International Law rules. The process involves filing a request with the Court of Appeal ( Tri- bunal da Relação ), which assesses conditions such as jurisdiction, due process, finality, and non-contradic - tion with Portuguese public order. Once recognised,
the judgment can be enforced as if it were a Portu - guese decision. Also, foreign criminal judgments that have become final may be enforced in Portugal under the condi - tions predicted in Law No 144/99 (Article 96). The procedure is conducted by the public prosecutor that admits it or not in accordance with the law and then submits it to the Minister of Justice. If the Minister of Justice considers the request admissible, the file is forwarded, through the General Prosecutor, to the Public Prosecutor at the competent Court of Appeal, pursuant to Article 235 of the Portuguese Code of Criminal Procedure, to initiate the procedure for review and confirmation of the judgment. 6. Privileges 6.1 Invoking the Privilege Against Self- Incrimination The Portuguese legal system strongly protects the guarantee against self-incrimination ( nemo tenetur ). One of the main corollaries is the right to silence, which is grounded in the constitutional guarantees of defence and fair trial and is implemented in criminal procedure. With specific regard to criminal proceedings, this right is laid down in Article 61 (1)(d) of the Criminal Proce - dure Code. This provision lists the procedural rights and duties of the defendant and paragraph (d) fore - sees the right of the defendant not to answer ques - tions from any person about the offences charged or the content of any statements made concerning them. Thus, this right is one of the most important guaran - tees of the accused in criminal proceedings and is a manifestation of the principle of the right not to be incriminated. However, while the right to silence cannot harm the defendant, it does not automatically operate to the defendant’s advantage. By remaining silent – thereby foregoing the opportunity to present their version of the facts or to clarify points about which they have personal knowledge – the defendant cannot later claim that they have been harmed by the exercise of that right.
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