PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Rita Samoreno Gomes and Petra Carreira, PLMJ
11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs When the court renders its judgment, it also determines the amount of costs – by reference to the value of the case and considering, among other things, the conduct of the parties and the complexity of the matter – and the proportion of costs to be borne by each party. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs Interest is not usually awarded on costs under Portuguese law. 12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country In Portugal, court litigation is still the most com- monly used type of dispute resolution. The vast majority of disputes are resolved through the judicial system. However, the importance of ADR mechanisms has become increasingly sig- nificant in recent years, especially with regard to arbitration. This is largely due to the inefficiency and slowness of the traditional judicial system. There are several ADR mechanisms available in Portugal as an alternative to the state courts. The most popular ADR methods in Portugal are arbitration, mediation, conciliation and the jus- tices of the peace. Arbitration is the most popular ADR method and there is a widespread view that Portugal is arbi- tration-friendly. This is due in part to the fact that Portugal is at the hub of Portuguese-speaking investment, has a model law-based arbitration law and is a signatory to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention).
In certain cases, the appellate court may refer the case back to the court of first instance to repeat the trial, and/or to produce additional evi- dence, even if only with regard to certain points of the judgment. 11. Costs 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation At the end of the proceedings, the losing party bears the costs associated with the proceed- ings, including court fees, and the costs incurred by the prevailing party, including the costs of experts, translators and interpreters, certificates or other required documents, and the fees the prevailing party has paid to its counsel (in this case, up to 50% of the amount of court fees paid by all the parties), in proportion to its liability. Up until ten days after the judgment becomes res judicata, the prevailing party should deliver a statement with these costs to the court and to the losing party. If the losing party does not agree with the statement of costs submitted by the winning party, it can file a complaint with the court. If there are several losing parties, they will all be liable to pay a proportion of the amount to the winning party. In turn, the winning party can only recover costs from each defendant in that same proportion. If a party litigates in bad faith, makes a claim knowing that it is false, wilfully fails to tell the truth or acts in a reckless manner, the court can order it (and its counsel) to pay compensation to the opposing party.
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