PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Pedro Duro, Mariana Proença Lobo and Joana Avelino Gomes, CS’Associados
Passive Corruption in the Private Sector (Article 8 of Law No 20/2008, of 21 April 2008) This provision applies to a private sector worker who requests or accepts a pecuniary or non- pecuniary advantage, or the promise thereof, for any act or omission that constitutes a violation of their functional duties, as follows: • individuals – imprisonment for up to five years or a fine for up to 600 days; and • legal entities – a fine for up to 600 days. If the previous act or omission is likely to cause a distortion of competition or damage to third- party assets, the following penalties apply: • individuals: imprisonment for one to eight years; and • legal entities – a fine ranging from 120 to 960 days. Active Corruption in the Private Sector (Article 9 of Law No 20/2008, of 21 April 2008) This provision applies to anyone who receives a pecuniary or non-pecuniary advantage for any act or omission contrary to the duties of office, as follows: • individuals – imprisonment for up to three years or a fine for up to 360 days; and • legal entities – a fine for up to 360 days. If the previous conduct is intended to obtain or is likely to cause a distortion of competition or damage to the property of third parties, the fol - lowing penalties apply: • individuals: imprisonment for up to five years or a fine for up to 600 days; and • legal entities – a fine for up to 600 days.
Undue Use of European Union Revenue (Article 37-A of Decree-Law No 28/84, of 20 January 1984) This provision applies to any person who uses a legally obtained benefit, resulting from EU revenue other than value added tax on their own resources, for a purpose other than that for which it was intended, and which involves a loss or advantage of an amount exceeding EUR100,000, as follows: • individuals – imprisonment for up to five years; and • legal entities – a fine for up to 600 days. If the previous conduct causes a loss or advantage in an amount equal to or great - er than EUR10,000 and less than or equal to EUR100,000, the following penalties apply: • individuals – imprisonment for up to two years or a fine for up to 240 days; and • legal entities – a fine for up to 240 days. The same penalties will be imposed on anyone who commits the crime described in the forego - ing by omission, and which is contrary to the duties of office. 5.2 Guidelines Applicable to the Assessment of Penalties Determining the appropriate penalty for individu - als requires observing the provisions of Articles 70 et seq of the Criminal Code. The rules appli - cable to the sanctions to be imposed on com - panies are set out in Articles 90-A et seq of the Code. For individuals, the main sanction is imprison - ment. With respect to companies, the main sanction is a fine, which is measured in days (the amount due for each day ranges from EUR100
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