Latest news and stories about court ruling in Portugal for expats and residents.
The Setúbal Court sentenced 64-year-old helmsman Manuel Coelho to four and a half years in prison, suspended for five years, for the deaths of four passengers in an April 2024 shipwreck off Troia. Judges ruled that Coelho acted recklessly by taking the recreational fishing boat out in rough waters with waves nearing four meters. Coelho was the sole survivor among five people aboard when the vessel capsized.
The Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas) has archived a case involving former Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina and former councilor Manuel Salgado. The investigation concerned payments made by the Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa) to Joaquim Morão between 2015 and 2017, which the court determined did not require repayment by the officials.
The Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas) is Portugal’s independent public audit body that inspects and approves the accounts of state entities, public companies and other bodies that use public funds. Its rejection of an organisation’s accounts signals serious financial irregularities and can lead to recoveries, fines or political fallout, so taxpayers and public-sector contractors should pay attention.
The Câmara de Lisboa (Lisbon City Council) is Lisbon's municipal executive body responsible for city services, local regulations and enforcing municipal bylaws. It approves measures like the alcohol sales ban that started on February 14, so residents and business owners should consult the Câmara or its website for permits, enforcement rules and appeals.
The Supreme Court has established that 'future memory statements' made by domestic violence victims during initial inquiries can be admitted as evidence, even if the victim refuses to testify at trial, aiming to protect victims from repetitive trauma.
The Portuguese Navy has reopened disciplinary proceedings against crew members who refused to board the NRP Mondego in 2023, following a Supreme Administrative Court ruling that annulled previous sanctions due to procedural errors.
Mário Ferreira was acquitted of the crime of tax fraud regarding the sale of the Atlântida ship this Thursday, October 29. The Public Prosecutor's Office had sought a conviction for the businessman, but the panel of judges ruled that the objective and subjective elements of the crime were not proven, thereby acquitting the businessman and the other companies involved. The case concerned the purchase and sale of the Atlântida ship, acquired by Mystic Cruises from the Viana do Castelo shipyards for 8.75 million euros in September 2014, and sold in June 2015 to International Trade Winds (ITW), a company created in Malta and managed by the businessman, for 11 million euros. Subsequently, International Trade Winds sold the ship to the Norwegian company Hurtigruten for 17 million euros. According to the Public Prosecutor, this sale resulted in a profit of 3.7 million euros, an amount that was not declared in a timely manner, which enabled the obtaining of an illicit tax advantage of approximately one million euros.
Porto court cleared the owner of Douro Azul of qualified tax fraud. The case concerned the 2015 sale of the ship Atlântida to a company in Malta.
At the start of the trial on 19 March, the businessman, who also owns TVI, denied committing any crime and noted that the matter in question is a “potential delay in income tax which has been settled.”
Two men and two women have been convicted of robbery, credit card fraud, and illegal possession of a weapon.
A student suspended for private conversations won the case against the school in Braga. Meanwhile, in Milan, the Mona Lisa appears topless with scars to raise awareness for breast cancer.
The Constitutional Court declared the norms of Law 45/2024 unconstitutional with generally binding force, concluding that they violate the principle of legitimate expectations.
José Manuel Ribeiro and Paulo Esteves Ferreira were sentenced to forfeiture of office, a 100-day fine, and the payment of 61,000 euros in compensation.
The Public Prosecutor's magistrate was responsible for the indictment in the 2017 Pedrógão Grande forest fires case.
Captured in Romania in April and extradited, the defendant was also expelled from national territory. The judge rejected his claim that he did not know he had killed the victim.
Strasbourg judges deemed the complaint from the parents of five of the six students from Lusófona University of Lisbon to be “manifestly ill-founded”
Miner Blanc Lda. must immediately and permanently close the 'Cerro do Meio' quarry.
A judge did not approve of a father of two minor children transporting them in his Porsche Cayman. Since the sports car only has two seats, the father 'hung' them behind the engine cover, and the judge was not pleased.
The Spanish company Mercadona suspected an employee was abusing a reduced working hours agreement and hired a private detective to follow him. Based on the surveillance results, they dismissed the man for just cause, but the Spanish courts ultimately ruled in the worker's favour and ordered his return to the company.
The court deemed there was sufficient evidence for an effective prison sentence. It described statements from an Azorean court as an “unfortunate constant in our courts” and criticised the “revictimisation” of the minor.
In March, following the passage of Storm Kristin, the Coimbra City Council cancelled the public tender for a programmer that had been launched by the previous administration, citing a lack of funds to fulfil the contract (worth 36,000 euros per year for three years).
The Sintra Court ruling on the death of Odair Moniz during a police operation in Cova da Moura highlights that officer Bruno Pinto should have lowered his Glock after firing warning shots into the air. However, the judges note that before firing the two fatal shots, the officer was the victim of “ongoing – in execution and imminent – and also unlawful assaults” by the cook.
The Public Prosecutor's Office and Mónica Silva's family had appealed the acquittal. The Porto Court of Appeal maintains the acquittal of the missing woman's ex-boyfriend.
It may be unpleasant for Pingo Doce, but freedom of opinion must encompass potential exaggerations, inaccuracies, errors, and injustices. For the good of us all, in this case, the consumers. Opinion by Francisco Teixeira da Mota
The investor uses a Lisbon Court of Appeal ruling against BCP and Novo Banco to defend herself, arguing that the lack of compensation for the nationalisation of Efacec is what prevents bank repayments.
The Évora Court of Appeal stated that the ruling by the three judges who reviewed the appeals of ten convicted defendants 'partially altered the facts deemed proven'.
The couple divorced and agreed that the children would live with their mother in Portugal until 2029. A little over a month later, the father filed a report claiming the children had disappeared.
The Guimarães Court has revoked the prison sentence of a scrap dealer who had been sentenced to 20 months for three counts of stealing water from the public network, replacing it with a 200-day fine at a daily rate of five euros.
The Lisbon City Council approved the payment of two indemnities this Thursday, totalling nearly 40 million euros, following court rulings related to urban planning processes from three decades ago, including the construction of the Alvalade XXI Complex. In a private meeting, the municipal executive reviewed two proposals to comply with court decisions regarding these cases.
André Ventura failed to meet the deadline to appeal a Lisbon Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the removal of a campaign poster stating “Gypsies must obey the law.” Despite previously vowing to take the case to the Constitutional Court, the Chega leader did not file an appeal. The court's ruling, which cited European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence, concluded that political free speech does not protect racist or xenophobic discourse that targets specific ethnic groups.
