PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Pedro Duro, Mariana Proença Lobo and Joana Avelino Gomes, CS’Associados
those who have held political or public offices or functions in public organisations cannot dedi - cate themselves to representing the interests of, and are restricted in their interactions with, the public entity they worked for. Moreover, the Minister of Justice has already anticipated that there will be an anti-corruption agenda: a pack - age of measures against corruption is already being drawn up, where the Minister established a two-month deadline for doing so. In June of 2024, two bills of law ( Projeto de Lei No 179/XVI/1 and Projeto de Lei No 190/ XVI/1) aimed at regulating lobbying activities in Portugal and implementing a registry of trans - parency and a legislative footprint mechanism were presented. The bills should apply to inter - actions between public entities and other enti - ties that wish to ensure the representation of interest groups or lobbies – ie, all those who aim to influence, directly or indirectly and on their own behalf or on behalf of specific groups or third parties, in decision-making processes and the formulation, execution or results of public policies, as well as in legislative, regulatory or administrative acts – and public contracts – in compliance with the law. In addition, both bills propose to create a registry of transparency – as mentioned in the foregoing – where enrolment will be mandatory for all those who wish to ensure the representation of interest groups or lobbies. This registry will be publicly accessible and will be made freely available on the internet in a machine-readable, searchable and open data format. After enrolling, the entities that are covered will be grouped into categories of interests and lobbies, and will make available on their website a page detailing all ongoing public consultations regarding their initiatives. In addition, under Bill of Law No 179/XVI/1, it is proposed that public entities will report their
interactions with the registered entities to the Transparency Authority, on a monthly basis. Regarding cooling-off periods, political office - holders, high public officers and people with similar positions may not represent the interests of a legal person, ministry or body in which they were an officeholder for a specific period (one political party proposes three years; another pro - poses four years) after their term of office. The general limitation period for the crimes referred to in 1.2 National Legislation is 15 years. Such period may, however, be increased in the event of suspension or interruption of the limitation period, under the conditions foreseen in the Criminal Code. 3.2 Geographical Reach of Applicable Legislation As a rule, Portuguese law is applicable to crimes committed in Portuguese territory, regardless of the nationality of the offender, and on board Por - tuguese ships and aircrafts. In some situations, Portuguese criminal law is also applicable to crimes committed abroad. Particularly with respect to corruption, Law No 20/2008 of 21 April 2008 (as amended) estab - lishes that the regime foreseen therein also applies to: 3. Scope of Application 3.1 Limitation Period • the crime of active corruption that is to the detriment of international commerce, involv - ing acts committed by Portuguese or foreign citizens who are found in Portugal, regardless of the location where the acts occurred; and
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