PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Mark Kirkby, Francisca Mendes da Costa and Gonçalo Sá Gomes, Sérvulo & Associados
9.5 Procedural Stages The introductory petition that initiates the claim must already present the arguments and evi - dence demonstrating the legal grounds on which the claim is based (Article 78, No 2(f) of the CPTA). Additional stages for presenting legal argu - ments and evidence will be provided. However, depending on the discussed issue, the point at which they occur may vary. Generally, legal arguments, presenting of evidence, and witness testimony occurs at the “final hearing” (Article 91 of the CPTA) – ie, the last stage before the sentence itself. 9.6 Initial Sifting Process There is no mandatory initial sifting process in order to ascertain if a claim has standing. However, if the court finds the pleading or the defence have imperfections that will prevent it from deciding the merits of the claim, it may invite the party to correct what it has submitted (Article 87 of the CPTA). Also, if the court finds that there may be an issue that prevents it from discussing the merits of the claim (eg, the court lacks competence or the claim was filed after the legal time limit), the court can conduct “prior hearing” (Article 87-A of the CPTA), allowing the parties to present their legal arguments on why Some claims are urgent by nature. Thus, Article 36 of the CPTA provides the following expedited procedures to adjudicate them: • electoral litigation (Article 98 of the CPTA) – if the plaintiff is or can be an elector; • mass proceedings (Article 99 of the CPTA) – when 50 or more participants applied for it must or must not be the case. 9.7 Expedited Proceedings
Note that, regardless of any judicial claim, the administration can annul an act within six months of the competent body becoming aware of the cause of the invalidity. However, this time limit cannot be greater than five years after the act was issued (Article 168, No 1 of the CPA). The statute of limitation for civil liability of the administration is three years (Article 498 of the Civil Code, ex vi, Article 5 of the RRCEE). 9.4 Evidence Required to Initiate a Claim The claimant is required to set out the essential facts that constitute the cause of the claim and the legal grounds on which the claim is based on (Article 78, No 2(f) of the CPTA). If the plaintiff wishes to present a list of witnesses and request other means of proof, they must do so at the end of the petition and may indicate – where appropriate – that the documents needed for proof are contained in the administrative file (Article 78, No 4 of the CPTA). The initial application must be accompanied by documentary evidence, depending on the claim, when (Article 79, No 3 of the CPTA): • an act or norm is challenged (with a docu - ment proving their issuance); • a declaration of non-existence of an admin - istrative act is sought (with any proof of the appearance of such an act); • the plaintiff’s claim for the practice of an administrative act has been dismissed or rejected (with a document proving the dis - missal or rejection); • the author’s request for an administrative act has not been answered (with a copy of the request submitted or with a receipt or other document proving that the original was received by the competent services).
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