Legal updates in Portugal - May 2024
INDEX:
IV. CASE-LAWIV.1. Court of Justice of the European UnionIV.2. Constitutional CourtIV.3. Judicial CourtsIV.4. Administrative and Tax Courts
V. BRIEFSV.1. DoctrineV.1.1. Monographs and Periodic PublicationV.1.2. General Guidelines & CiaV.2. MiscellaneousV.2.1. Economy, Finance and TaxationV.2.2. Industrial Property
I. EDITORIAL – AMENDMENT OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE LAND REGISTRY; REGULATION OF THE SINGLE BILLING DOCUMENT
The month of May was marked, at a legislative level, by a lower legislative output, following the beginning of mandate in April of a new government, the XXIV Constitutional Government of the Portuguese Republic.
Despite the decrease in legislative production, it is possible to highlight the publication of Decree-Law no. 35/20124 of May 21, which changes the criteria for awarding the solidarity supplement for the elderly, eliminating the relevance of their children's income, and the publication of Decree-Law no. 36/2024 of May 21, which amends the legal framework for the land registry.
Also noteworthy, at a legislative level, are:
Within the scope of case law, we highlight the Judgement of the Constitutional Court no. 373/2024, of May 8, Case no. 364/24, in which it decided: "(...) to confirm the decision complained and, consequently: a) Maintain the judgement of non-unconstitutionality of the provisions of Articles 400 no. 1(f) and 432 no. 1 (b), both of the Code of Criminal Procedure, when interpreted to mean that "an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice against decisions handed down by the Court of Appeal confirming decisions of the Court of First Instance and imposing prison sentences of no more than 8 years is not admissible (…)”.
Finally, under Miscellaneous, the Council of Ministers approved a set of measures for youth ("Tens Futuro Em Portugal"), a set of measures for housing ("Construir Portugal"), and also adopted the Health Emergency and Transformation Plan.
II. LEGISLATION
Decree-Law no. 31/2024, of May 8: Introduces a mechanism for publicising the governance model for European funds 2021-2027 through local or regional newspapers.
Decree-Law no. 35/2024 of May 21: Changes the criteria for awarding the solidarity supplement for the elderly, eliminating the relevance of their children's income.
Decree-Law no. 36/2024 of May 21: Amends the legal framework for land registry.
Ordinance no. 154-A/2024/1, of May 22: Proceeds with the extraordinary update of the reference value of the solidarity supplement for the elderly.
Ordinance no. 155/2024/1, of May 24: Regulates the procedure for the online formation of companies and the entity page and amends Ordinance no. 1416-A/2006, of 19 December, and the Commercial Registry Regulation.
Decree-Law no. 37/2024, of May 28: Proceeds with the second amendment to Decree-Law no. 252/2007, of 5 July, which creates a system of additional health benefits for beneficiaries of the solidarity supplement for the elderly.
Ordinance no. 156/2024/1, of May 28: Approves the Single Collection Document Regulation.
III. Public Procurement1 [NEW]
Announcement no. 8476/2024, of May 2: Design-build contract for the Manteigadas Sports Pavilion - Municipality of Setúbal - €1,747,572.82 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 8481/2024, of May 2: Improvement of Agrela EB 2,3 School - Santo Tirso Municipality - €2,846,490.81 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 8590/2024, of May 2: Construction of a social housing building - Quinta do Outeiro - Marco de Canaveses - Marco de Canaveses Municipality - €2,193,191.71 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8591/2024, of May 2: School transport for students attending educational establishments in the EAs of Ericeira, Mafra, Malveira and Venda do Pinheiro - Municipality of Mafra - €1,551,209.52 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 8604/2024, of May 3: Contract for the extension and upgrading of EB No. 1 de Arrentela - Seixal Municipality - €1,839,622.64 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8678/2024, of May 3: Insurance services - Municipality of Porto - €5,070,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8726/2024, of May 6: Contract to adapt a building into a Student Residence in Oliveira do Hospital of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra - Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (IPC) - €2,975,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 8755/2024, of May 6: Supply of 8 mini midi buses up to around 9 metres long with autonomous electric propulsion for urban passenger transport category M3 class II and Electric Charging Station - Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto, E.I.M., S.A. - €3,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 8762/2024, of May 6: Contract for the Rehabilitation of 5 Social Housing Buildings in the Neighbourhood of Manique in the parish of Alcabideche in the Municipality of Cascais within the scope of ELH and the Recovery and Resilience Plan - Municipality of Cascais - €1,490,379.22 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8763/2024, of May 6: Contract by Lots for the Rehabilitation of 4 Social Housing Buildings in the Neighbourhood of Matarraque in the parish of S?o Domingos de Rana in the Municipality of Cascais within the scope of the ELH and the Recovery and Resilience Plan - Municipality of Cascais - €1,191,884.80 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8777/2024, of May 6: Contract for the Construction of a Municipal Housing Building at Street Ivone Silva in Alcoit?o under the scope of the ELH and PRR - Municipality of Cascais - €4,350,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8806/2024, of May 6: Design and Construction of the New Leiria Residence, under the PRR PNAES - Polytechnic Institute of Leiria - €5,274,800.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 8817/2024, of May 6: Refurbishment and extension of the S. Jo?o da Pesqueira Fire Station - Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of S?o Jo?o da Pesqueira - €1,122,714.53 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9039/2024, of May 8: Requalification of Passil Primary School and Kindergarten - Alcochete City Council - € 1,200,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9045/2024, of May 8: Contract for the Construction of the D. Bosco Centre Nursery - Association of Former Salesian Students of Estoril - €4,393,965.86 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9051/2024, of May 8: Construction of the Leiria Mobility Centre - Municipality of Leiria - €2,550,000.00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 9067/2024, of May 8: Acquisition of the Public Passenger Road Transport Service in the City of Leiria (Mobilis) - Municipality of Leiria - €18,116,334.00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 9155/2024, of May 9: Rehabilitation of the Montes da Costa Social Housing Development. The work includes rehabilitating the exterior and interior of the buildings that make up the neighbourhood and improving the thermal conditions of each of the units. - Valongo City Council - €1,104,000.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9217/2024, of May 10: Contract for the construction of the Higher School of Health - Municipality of Torres Vedras - € 3,939,464.10 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9279/2024, of May 10: Acquisition of legal, tax/financial advisory services for the Regulatory Review of Municipal Fees - Leiria Municipality - € 77,500.00 (YearGov) Municipal Fees - Municipality of Leiria - € 77,500.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9303/2024, of May 10: Conversion of a Residential Building to Install a Family Health Unit - Municipality of Castelo Branco - € 2,300,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9305/2024, of May 10: Contract for the Design - Construction of Urbanisation Works and 6 Municipal Housing Buildings on Street S?o Valentim within the scope of the ELH - Municipality of Cascais - € 7,205,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9324/2024, of May 10: Construction Contract for the Rehabilitation and Modernisation of the Primary and Secondary Irrigation Networks of the Lezíria Norte of the Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira Hydrographic Reservoir – Association of Beneficiaries of Lezíria Grande Vila Franca Xira - € 4.850.000,00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 9352/2024, of May 13: Wastewater from Gafanha de Aquém/Boavista (PAR 008) and Rainwater - ílhavo - ílhavo Municipality - €1,648,500.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9355/2024, of May 13: Electricity supply contract for the Municipality of Mira BTN, BTE, MT and BTN IP - Municipality of Mira - €1,244,126.63 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9372/2024, of May 13: Design-build contract for a multi-family housing building, comprising 32 dwellings, spread over three types, 16 one-bedroom units, 8 three-bedroom units and 8 four-bedroom units, consisting of a single block with 4 floors above the threshold and one floor below for parking. - Coimbra City Council - €5,526,747.67 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9378/2024, of May 13: Contract ?EN10, KM118+560, MARECHAL CARMONA BRIDGE - REHABILITATION AND STRUCTURAL REINFORCEMENT? - Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A - €22,000,000.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9401/2024, of May 13: Contract for "Execution of New Generation Infrastructures for Business Hosting Areas, within the scope of the PRR" - Municipality of Lagos - €5,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9416/2024, of May 13: Contract IC1 - KM567+571, BRIDGE OVER RIO SADO - REHABILITATION OF THE ARTWORK - Infraestruturas de Portugal, S. A. - €9,000,000.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9513/2024, of May 14: Rehabilitation/refurbishment of industrial warehouses for public services for general use - Almada City Council - € 5,156,410.26 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9530/2024, of May 14: Contract 50/GEBALIS/2024 - Neighbourhood Pa?o do Lumiar - Building rehabilitation and conservation works - GEBALIS - Lisbon Municipal Housing Lease Management, E.M., S.A. - € 2,585,220.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9542/2024, of May 14: Refurbishment of the Padre António Vieira social housing development. The work includes rehabilitating the exterior and interior of the buildings to improve the health and comfort conditions of each of the units. - Valongo City Council - €1,088,000.00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 9552/2024, of May 14: Contract for the Rehabilitation of the ERPI of the Our Lady of Mercy Resort and the Rehabilitation of the Ombudsman's Office Building – Holy House of Mercy of Amarante - € 1,060,225.68 (ComprasPT)
Announcement no. 9655/2024, of May 15: Contract for the Construction of the Almograve Kindergarten and Primary School - EB1 - Municipality of Odemira - €2,538,679.24 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9659/2024, of May 15: Construction Contract for the Interpretive Centre – Master of água Salgada River - Municipality of Odemira - €3,700,001.55 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9777/2024, of May 16: BPMP – Construction and Management of Porto, EM Requalification Contract - € 26,500,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9853/2024, of May 17: P237/2023 - Rehabilitation and Expansion of Lou??s School for Nursery School (100964/2023) - Municipality of Ourém - €1,059,489.80 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9890/2024, of May 17: Proc. 17/DCH/2024 - Construction of the S?o Mar?al II Housing Programme - 48 dwellings, Carnaxide - Municipality of Oeiras - € 10,419,193.55 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 9903/2024, of May 17: Contract 97/GEBALIS/2024 - Neighbourhood Maria Pia and Neighbourhood Ceuta Sul - Building rehabilitation and conservation works - GEBALIS - Lisbon Municipal Housing Lease Management, E.M., S.A. - € 5,281,086.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 9990/2024, of May 20: International Public Procurement for the Contract by Lots for the Rehabilitation of 2 Social Housing Buildings and 19 Social Housing Dwellings in 4 Condominium Buildings in the Brejos de Tires and Coveiras Neighbourhoods in the parish of S?o Domingos de Rana in the Municipality of Cascais within the scope of the ELH and the Recovery and Resilience Plan - Municipality of Cascais - €1,434,792.90 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 9995/2024, of May 20: Acquisition of regular collective passenger transport services on the island of S?o Jorge - Regional Fund for Land Transport, I.P.R.A. - € 3,150,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10012/2024, of May 20: Works Contract: Requalification of Seia Secondary School - Municipality of Seia - € 7,318,620.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10031/2024, of May 20: Contract for the Structural and Infrastructure Rehabilitation of the Cascais Wall - Municipality of Cascais - €20,900,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10036/2024, of May 20: Renewal of Microsoft licensing, cloud hosting (Azure Cloud) and services - Portuguese Securities Market Commission - €1,824,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10066/2024, of May 20: Contract for the refurbishment and extension of the Portalegre Palace of Justice - Institute for Financial Management and Justice Equipment, I. P. - €1,850,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10075/2024, of May 20: Contract for the Refurbishment of the António Maria Santos da Cunha Building, implementation of the Integrated Continued Care Unit – Holy House of Mercy of Braga - €2,150,000.00 (ComprasPT)
Announcement no. 10182/2024, of May 21: Requalification of the Gualdim Pais School - Proc. no. 27/2024 - Municipality of Pombal - €4,571,206.95 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10185/2024, of May 22: Contract for works of expansion and refurbishment works - CENCAL - Professional Training Centre for the Ceramics Industry - €1,200,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10186/2024, of May 22: Contract for Refurbishment of the interior space of the Fraústo da Silva Residence (RFS) and energy renewal of the building - UNL - Social Action Services - €2,585,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10193/2024, of May 22: PRATS Home Refurbishment Contract - 1st phase (East Wing) – Holy House of Mercy of Sines - €1,684,403.59 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 10220/2024, of May 22: Provision of Insurance Services for Accidents at Work, Motor Fleet, Non-Contractual Civil Liability, Multi-Risk, Environmental Liability and Civil Liability for the Operation of the Fuel Station, divided into 3 lots - SIMAR – intermunicipal services of Loures and Odivelas - €1,141,200.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10240/2024, of May 22: Proc. 197/JFO/DF/SA/2024 - Acquisition of consultancy services - Parish of Olivais - €139,200.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10261/2024, of May 22: Contract for the Rehabilitation of 5 Social Housing Buildings and 1 Dwelling in 1 Condominium Building in the Alcabideche Neighbourhood under the scope of the ELH and PRR - Municipality of Cascais - €2,100,736.67 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10292/2024, of May 23: Contract for the Rehabilitation of 4 Social Housing Buildings and 5 Social Housing Units in 1 Condominium Building in the Campos Velhos Neighbourhood within the scope of ELH and PRR - Municipality of Cascais - €1,862,586.74 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10317/2024, of May 23: 2019.059.01.C1 - SEFP Seia - Refurbishment of the Seia Building - PRR - Employment and Vocational Training Institute, IP - € 5.700.000,00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10319/2024, of May 23: Construction of Municipal Housing Building in Chapim, Ramada, Odivelas - Municipality of Odivelas - € 3,055,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10390/2024, of May 24: Purchase of IT equipment for the Specialised Technology Centre – School Grouping D. Dinis, Santo Tirso - €1,324,109.08 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10392/2024, of May 24: Construction contract for a multi-family building located at Street Gisberta Salce Junior - Eirinhas, in Porto - Porto Vivo, SRU – Company of Urban Rehabilitation of Porto, E.M., S.A. - €4,650,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10393/2024, of May 24: Contract for the Rehabilitation of 11 of 28 Social Housing Buildings in the Neighbourhood of Alcoit?o under the scope of the ELH and PRR - Municipality of Cascais - €3,081,518.97 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10397/2024, of May 24: Contract for the Construction of Municipal Housing Buildings in the Marechal Carmona Neighbourhood (Building J3) under the scope of the ELH and PRR - Municipality of Cascais - €3,450,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10423/2024, of May 24: Design/Construction for Controlled Cost Housing in Nazes - Municipality of Lamego - €9,800,000.00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 10457/2024, of May 24: Contract 59/GEBALIS/2024 – Neighbourhood of Vale de Santo António - Building rehabilitation and conservation works - GEBALIS - Lisbon Municipal Housing Lease Management, E.M., S.A. - €1,423,121.00 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 10470/2024, of May 24: 2024/CP/011 - Renovation of the Academic Centre - Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo - €2,019,361.01(AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10489/2024, of May 24: Contract for the construction of 19 houses in Street of Canadinhas, parish of Feteira, municipality of Horta - Municipality of Horta - €3,009,349.84 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10503/2024, of May 27: Contract for the construction of a residential building with 9 dwellings, in Street of Jesus, parish of Matriz, municipality of Horta - Municipality of Horta - €1,452,715.34 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10528/2024, of May 27: Design and construction of the ISEL student residence building - Lisbon Higher Institute of Engineering – €8,637,000.00 (ComprasPT)
Announcement no. 10531/2024, of May 27: Acquisition of insurance policies - Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira - €1,905,855.00 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 10567/2024, of May 27: Contract for the Rehabilitation of the Old Town of S?o Teotónio and Riverside Park - Municipality of Odemira - €6,151,803.79 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10575/2024, of May 27: Design/ Construction of the Ferreira Dias School - Municipality of Sintra - €27,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10660/2024, of May 28: Construction of the new Penafiel Family Health Unit (USF) - Municipality of Penafiel - €2,953,287.45 (Vortal)
领英推荐
Announcement no. 10703/2024, of 28 May: Contract 57/GEBALIS/2024 - Neighbourhood Rego B - Building rehabilitation and conservation works - GEBALIS - Lisbon Municipal Housing Lease Management, E.M., S.A. - € 1,196,560.93 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 10769/2024, of May 29: Improvement of Agrela EB2,3 School - Municipality of Santo Tirso - €2,846,490.81 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10773/2024, of May 29: Contract 63/GEBALIS/2024 - Neighbourhood Alta de Lisboa - PER 5 - Building rehabilitation and conservation works - GEBALIS - Lisbon Municipal Housing Lease Management, E.M., S.A. - €3,346,885.44 (GovYear)
Announcement no. 10805/2024, of May 29: The purpose of this contract is to continue and complete the work begun previously, in a previous public procurement procedure. This is a school facility to be built on a plot of land along Avenida Francisco Sá Carneiro and vacant land, intended as a daycare for children aged 0-36 months, with 8 activity rooms, a kitchen, canteen and outdoor spaces. The building will be located on a 4,200.00 m2 plot and will have a single ground floor. - Municipality of Loulé - €3,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10830/2024, of May 29: Design-build contract for a student residence in the city of Horta, on the island of Faial, in the Autonomous Region of the Azores - University of the Azores - €4,000,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10853/2024, of 29 May: Provision of travel and accommodation agency services for SESARAM, EPERAM - Health Service of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, EPERAM (SESARAM, EPERAM) - €7,500,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10865/2024, of May 29: Construction of 8 dwellings - Avenida 25 de Abril, N.o 61 - Malveira - Municipality of Mafra - €1,531,995.48 (AnoGov)
Announcement no. 10866/2024, of 29 May: Contract for the repair, conservation and restoration of the fa?ades of the Banco de Portugal Branch Building in Porto - Banco de Portugal - €1,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10889/2024, of May 31: 2024_050CP - Contracting of Property and Liability Insurance for águas de Portugal Group companies for the period from 01 August 2024 to 31 July 2025 - AdP - águas de Portugal, SGPS, S. A. - €3,049,817.79 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10920/2024, of May 31: CELEBRATION OF A FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR THE RENTING OF CARS - Hospital Common Use Service - €1,200,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10923/2024, of May 31: Preparation of the Project for the Execution, Construction, Installation, Operation and Maintenance of a Production Unit for Self-Consumption at the álamos Pumping Station - EDIA - Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company, S. A. - €22,000,000.00 (Vortal)
Announcement no. 10944/2024, of May 31: Design-build contract for a student residence in the city of Ponta Delgada, on the island of S?o Miguel, in the Autonomous Region of the Azores - University of the Azores - €6,300,000.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10973/2024, of May 31: 2024_047CP - Acquisition of Ferric Chloride by águas de Portugal Group Companies - AdP - águas de Portugal, SGPS, S. A. - €3,482,035.00 (AcinGov)
Announcement no. 10983/2024, of May 31: Pavement Maintenance and Conservation Contract - Municipality of Cascais - €7,982,684.43 (AcinGov).
[1] Public Tenders with a base price of more than €1,000,000.00 (one million euros), except Public Tenders whose object is legal services.
IV. CASE-LAW
IV.1. Court of Justice of the European Union
Judgment of the Court of Justice (Seventh Chamber), of May 8, Case C-241/23: Reference for a preliminary ruling. Common system of value added tax (VAT). Directive 2006/112/EC. Article 73. Supply of goods and services. In-kind contribution of property. Taxable amount. Consideration. Shares. Nominal value. Issue value.
Summary:
“Article 73 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia and the adjustments to the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, must be interpreted as meaning that the taxable amount of a contribution of property by one company to the capital of a second company in exchange for shares in the latter must be determined in relation to the issue value of those shares where those companies agreed that the consideration for that capital contribution was to be that issue value.”.
Judgment of the Court of Justice (Second Chamber) of May 16, Case C-746/22: Reference for a preliminary ruling. Common system of value added tax (VAT). Detailed rules for the refund of VAT to taxable persons not established in the Member State of refund. Directive 2008/9/EC. Article 20. Request for additional information made by the Member State of refund. Information to be provided within a one-month period. Discontinuation of the procedure on account of failure by the taxable person to provide additional information within that time limit. Article 23. Refusal to take account of information submitted for the first time in the appeal procedure. Principle of effectiveness. Principle of VAT neutrality. Principle of good administration.
Summary:
“1. The first subparagraph of Article 23 no. 2 of Council Directive 2008/9/EC of 12 February 2008 laying down detailed rules for the refund of value added tax, provided for in Directive 2006/112/EC, to taxable persons not established in the Member State of refund but established in another Member State, read in the light of the principles of value added tax (VAT) neutrality and effectiveness, must be interpreted as meaning that it precludes national legislation under which a taxable person who has submitted an application for a refund of VAT is prohibited from providing, at the stage of the complaint before a second-tier tax authority, additional information, within the meaning of Article 20 of that directive, requested by the first-tier tax authority and which that taxable person did not provide to the latter authority within the one-month period laid down in Article 20 no. 2 thereof, that period not constituting a limitation period.
2. Article 23 of Directive 2008/9 must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation under which a tax authority must discontinue the VAT refund procedure where the taxable person has not provided, within the time limit, additional information requested by that authority under Article 20 of that directive and where, in the absence of that information, the VAT refund application cannot be processed, provided that the discontinuation decision is regarded as a decision refusing that refund application, within the meaning of Article 23(1), and that it can be the subject of an appeal meeting the requirements provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 23 no. 2 of that same directive.”.
IV.2. Constitutional Court
Judgement of the Constitutional Court no. 369/2024, of May 8, Case no. 750/2023:
"In these terms and on these grounds, it is decided:
a) Not to rule unconstitutional the rule contained in article 67, no. 1, b) of the Corporate Income Tax Code, in the dimension "according to which an CITC taxpayer may not deduct net financing costs that exceed 30 % of profit before depreciation, amortisation, net financing costs and taxes";
b) to not deem unconstitutional the rule contained in Article 67 no. 1(a) and (b) of the CITC, in the dimension "according to which the alternative maximum limits for the deductibility of net financing costs are the amount of 1 million euros or 30% of the result before depreciation, amortisation, net financing costs and taxes";
c) to not recognise as unconstitutional the rule contained in article 67(2) of the CIRC, in the dimension "according to which only a maximum of five years can be carried forward for excessive net financing costs in a given year";
d) Dismiss the action brought by A., SA;
e) Order the applicant to pay the costs, setting the court fee at 25 (twenty-five) units of account."
Judgement of the Constitutional Court no. 373/2024, of May 8, Case no. 364/24:
"In these terms and on these grounds, it is decided to confirm the decision complained and, consequently:
a) Maintain the judgement of non-unconstitutionality of the provisions of Articles 400 no. 1(f) and 432 no. 1 (b), both of the Code of Criminal Procedure, when interpreted to mean that "an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice against decisions handed down by the Court of Appeal confirming decisions of the Court of First Instance and imposing prison sentences of no more than 8 years is not admissible;
b) The judgement dismisses the action brought by A. is upheld."
Judgement of the Constitutional Court no. 380/2024, of May 14, Case no. 1164/2022:
"In view of the above, it is decided to declare the unconstitutionality, with general binding force, of article 54 no.1 of Law 98/2009 of September 4, insofar as it allows the maximum limit of supplementary benefit for the assistance of a third person to be lower than the value of the guaranteed minimum monthly wage, for infringement of article 59 no. 1 (f) of the Constitution."
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IV.3. Judicial Courts
Judgement of the Supreme Court of Justice, of May 9, Case no. 1568/22.6T8FNC.L1.S1: Promissory Contract of Purchase and Sale. Suspensive Condition. Loss of Interest and Creditor. Good Faith. Refusal to fulfil. Debtor. Conclusive Behaviour. Definitive Default. Resolution of the Deal. Admonitory Interpellation.
Summary:
"I. Since it is typical of a condition that the conditioning fact is uncertain, If, at a certain point, it became clear that the condition to which the parties subordinated the realization of the deed of sale would not be met, there is no point in waiting any longer, since Article 275 no. 1 of the Civil Code states that this is equivalent to it not being met.
II. Serious and justified damage to the seller's confidence in the counterparty's ability and serious will to perform the services under his responsibility, resulting from the clearly excessive delay, according to prevailing standards and the requirements of reasonableness and good faith, aggravated by the assumption by the buyer of evasive behaviour, contrary to the requirements of good faith (evading all contact and responses, either with the seller or with the City Council to carry out due diligence and provide clarification), revealing an uncooperative behaviour, demonstrating a manifest disregard for the trust and legitimate interests of the counterparty.
III. When the debtor takes action or behaves in a way that unequivocally shows his intention not to fulfil the obligation because he does not want to or cannot, the creditor does not have to wait for the obligation to expire (if it hasn't already), nor does he have to plead and prove the loss of interest in the debtor's performance, nor does he have to admonish the debtor in order to have the obligation deemed unfulfilled."
Judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, of May 9, Case no. 6158/18.5T8LSB.L1-2: Inversion of the Title of Possession. First Name. Possession. Ownership. Autonomous fraction. Acquisition. Precarious Possession.
Summary:
"1- The inversion of the title of possession supposes the substitution of a precarious possession, in the name of another, by a possession in one's first name, making necessary an act of opposition against the person in whose name the opposing party possessed, and requiring that the holder make known directly to the person in whose name he possessed his intention to act as the holder of the right.
2- As it has been proved there is combined (or at least indistinct) action by the holders of an autonomous fraction and those in whose name they held that autonomous fraction, in relation to the use of that fraction, and not action by the former to exclude the latter from exercising their powers as owners, there can be no assertion of any acquisition of possession on the part of those holders, by inversion of the title, but rather it must be considered that the acts carried out by the former correspond to those of a precarious possessor, compared to the possession exercised by the latter, which came to them as a result of the purchase of the property. "
Judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, May 9, Case no. 18891/23.5T8LSB.L1-6: Sports Employment Contract. Lack of registration. Notarial Recognition. Recognition of Signatures.
Summary:
"- A sportsperson's employment contract is a formal contract, in that it is only valid if it is in writing and signed by both parties, under the terms of Article 6 no. 2 of Law 54/2017;
- It should be understood that the lack of registration of the sports employment contract with the respective federation does not lead to its invalidity, since this registration is not a requirement for its validity or effectiveness, which is only a condition for the sportsperson to be able to take part in official competitions promoted by the respective federations;
- Also with regards to the notarial recognition of the signatures of the contracting parties, there is no legal or conventional provision that makes the validity or effectiveness of such contracts conditional on their recognition;
- In the area of the special seizure provided for in Article 396 no. 2 of the Civil Code, if the assets to be seized are transferred to a third party, the applicant is not exempt from suing the third party purchaser, nor from alleging and demonstrating that the transfer was intended to conceal or disguise the assets in order to avoid satisfaction of the claim invoked by the seizure applicant."
Judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, May 16, Case no. 1035/21.5 T8LSB.L1-8: Insolvency. Unfounded Request. Suspension of Proceedings. Prejudicial Cause. Non-contractual liability. Compensation.
Summary:
"Article 22 of the CIRE provides for a case of non-contractual civil liability, to which article 483 of the CC applies, but in which it is required that the illegal act be committed with intent.
The opening of insolvency proceedings in which the only alleged basis is the creditor's claim against the debtors, without even alleging any essential facts relating to their solvency, namely any of the index facts provided for in the subparagraphs of Article 20 no. 1 of the CIRE, constitutes a wilful and unlawful act.
By showing at least indifference to the foreseeable results for the "debtors", he acted, at the very least, with eventual intent, and since this resulted in damage, all the requirements for civil liability are met."
Judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, May 20, Case no. 229/23.3YHLSB.L1-PICRS: Industrial Property. Trade mark. Designation of Origin. Regulation (EU) no. 1308/2013.
Summary:
"1 With regards to the protection of the Protected Designation of Origin "Vinho Verde", Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 is exclusively applicable.
2. Therefore, there is nothing to point out in the contested decision when it focuses on the concept of "evocation" in Article 103 no. 2 (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
3. It derives from point 2 of the operative part of the judgment of the CJEU of 9 September 2021, Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, C-783/19, that "evocation" "is established where the use of a designation creates in the mind of an average European consumer, who is normally informed and reasonably observant and sensible, a sufficiently direct and unambiguous link between that designation and the PDO. The existence of such a link may result from a number of factors, in particular the partial incorporation of the protected indication, the phonetic and visual similarity between the two names and the resulting similarity, and, even in the absence of such factors, the conceptual proximity between the PDO and the name in question, or the similarity between the products covered by that PDO and the products or services covered by that name".
4. Applying these criteria to the specific case, we conclude, as did the contested decision, that the registered trade mark VERDA BLANKA effectively evokes the PDO Vinhos Verdes, and that the registration of that trade mark should therefore be refused."
Judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, of May 23, Case no. 344/22.0T8CSC.L1-2: Claim action. Eviction Action. Transfer of the Lease. Expiry of the Contract. Application of the Law in Time.
Summary:
"I - If the owner requests that the defendant be ordered to hand over his (the plaintiff's) building (alleging the respective facts), because the defendant is occupying it without title - given that the lease made with the defendant's father has expired and has not been passed on to him - this is a claim action (art. 1311 no. 1 of the CC) and not an eviction action (art. 14 of the NRAU). 1311 no. 1 of the CC), regardless of the name given to it by the plaintiff; an action that will be dismissed if the defendant can prove that the lease has been passed on to him: art. 1311 no. 2 of the CC.
II - "In order to assess the effects of the death of the tenant on the contractual relationship, in order to ascertain whether the lease has expired or the contractual position of the deceased has been transferred, the legal regime in force on the date of death is applicable."
III - Under the combined terms of articles 59 no. 1, 26 no. 1, 27 and 28 no. 1 of the NRAU, the provisions of article 57 of the NRAU, in the version in force on the date of death, shall apply to all residential lease agreements entered into before the NRAU came into force, if they have not been transferred to the NRAU."
Judgement of the Coimbra Court of Appeals, of May 7, Case no. 586/22.9T8PMS.C1: Invalid Contract due to a Vice in Form. Reduction. Usucaption. Mere Detention. Inversion of Title of Possession. Inherited Building. Family home. Analogue Application.
Summary:
"I - It is not possible to reduce a deal that is invalid due to a vice in form.
II - The occupation of a property on the basis of the owner's authorisation constitutes a situation of mere detention, which cannot lead to the acquisition of the property by Usucaption.
III - The carrying out of works, and their payment, and the payment of taxes relating to the property are insufficient, especially when there is a family relationship between the owner and the holder, to constitute a situation of inversion of the title to possession.
IV - Article 2103-A of the Civil Code is not analogously applicable to another heir who has set up their family home in a building that is part of the undivided inheritance."
Judgement of the Guimar?es Court of Appeals, of May 2, Case no. 1278/24.0T8GMR-C.G1: Declaration of Insolvency. Ineptitude of the Claim. Individual. Confession.
Summary:
"I. The debtor, a natural person, who files for insolvency must allege facts which show that he or she has one or more obligations that have fallen due and is unable to fulfil them, or that he or she will be unable to fulfil them in the near future, namely when they fall due - the cause of action is materialised in the facts from which one of these conclusions arises, as follows from article 3, paragraphs 1 and 4, CIRE, which equates current insolvency with a situation that is merely imminent.
II In this case, the recognition of the insolvency situation, through the confession of these facts, leads to its immediate declaration – Article 28 of the CIRE.
III The provision for alleging and proving one or some of the facts listed exhaustively in Article 20 no. 1 of the CIRE is intended for the other parties with legitimacy to submit the application."
Judgement of the Court of Appeal of Guimar?es, of 2 May, Case no. 1913/19.1T8VNF-A.G1: Enforcement of Defendant. Exception of Non-Compliance of Contract. Right of Retention.
Summary:
"I - Considering that the enforced obligation of restitution (delivery) of the property corresponds to a consequence of the judicial declaration of nullity of the promissory contract in question, and not to the fulfilment of any obligation arising from that contract, and considering that the exception of non-fulfilment of the contract provided for in art. 428 no. 1 of the Civil Code is merely a means of ensuring respect for the principle of simultaneous fulfilment of synallagmatic obligations in the context of bilateral contracts, and is even restricted to principal obligations, it must be concluded that, in this case, the invocation of the right to refuse to fulfil the enforced obligation under this exception has absolutely no legal basis, and cannot be invoked because we are not dealing with a situation of fulfilment of bilateral and synallagmatic contractual obligations.
II - In order for a right of retention to exist (art. 754 of the Civil Code), three requirements must be met: 1) the debtor must lawfully hold the thing that he has to hand over to someone else [cf. art. 756/a) of the Civil Code]; 2) the debtor who holds the thing must simultaneously be a creditor of the person to whom he has to hand it over; 3) the two claims must be connected (debitum cum re junctum) under the conditions defined in the aforementioned Article 754 (expenses incurred as a result of the thing or damage caused by it).
III - With regards to this third requirement, alternatively, there are two circumstances on the fulfilment of which the law makes the existence of the right of retention dependent: in order for the refusal to hand over the thing to be legitimate, it is necessary that the retainer's claim against the holder of the thing (owner or legitimate possessor) arises from (is caused by) "expenses incurred on account of it" or "damage caused by it".
IV - As has been the unanimous understanding of the Supreme Court of Justice’s case law, appeals do not aim to create and issue new decisions on new issues (unless these are known of their own motion), but to challenge, review and possibly modify the decisions of the court under appeal on points that were questioned and within the same conditions in which the court under appeal was at the time it was handed down, and the court of appeal cannot hear issues that were not the subject of the decision under appeal or that the parties did not raise before the court under appeal."
IV.4. Administrative and Tax Courts
Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court, of May 8, Case no. 0906/13.7BELRS: Taxes. Capital gains. Application of the Law in Time. Compensatory interest.
Summary:
"I - In the case of capital gains, the taxable event occurs when it is realised and not when the taxable amount is determined, therefore Law 49/2011 was applied to a taxable event of an instantaneous nature, already fully formed at a time prior to the date of its entry into force, and there is therefore a violation of the principle of the prohibition of retroactivity in tax matters, which results from Article 103 no. 3 of the Constitution. That is why the extraordinary surcharge cannot be levied on realised capital gains;
II - On the basis of article 43 no. 1 of the LGT, no compensatory interest would be due because the error was not attributable to the services;
III - To dismiss the appeal lodged by the Tax and Customs Authority, in the section relating to the request to revoke the judicial challenge, maintaining its validity;
IV - Granting the appeal brought by the Tax and Customs Authority, in the section relating to the payment of compensatory interest, revoking the judgement under appeal in that part."
Judgement of the Southern Central Administrative Court, of May 9, Case no. 3917/23.0BELSB: IDLG. Assumptions.
Summary:
"I - Article 109 of the CPTA lays down the requirements of indispensability and subsidiarity of the procedural means of summons for the protection of rights, freedoms and guarantees;
II - It is not enough to invoke in the claim that there is a threat to the exercise of rights, typified in the Constitution as fundamental or similar rights, the petitioner also as to allege and prove facts that make it possible to conclude that, by reference to his specific case, the conditions for admissibility of the subpoena action provided for in the aforementioned Article 109 have been met;"
V. BRIEFS V.1. DOCTRINE V.1.1.? Monographs and Periodicals
Luís Manuel Couto Gon?alves, Manual de Direito Industrial, Almedina, May 2024.
Nuno Coelho, Organiza??o do Sistema Judicial e Jurisdi??o, Almedina, May 2024.
Francisco Oliveira Silva, Prova Por Reconhecimento e Inteligência Artificial, Almedina, May 2024.
Pedro de Albuquerque, Jo?o Serras de Sousa, Pessoa Coletiva Dogmática Geral e CSR, Corporate Purpose e ESG, Almedina, May 2024.
Salvador da Costa, Os Incidentes da Instancia, Almedina, May 2024.
Jorge Augusto Pais de Amaral, Direito Processual Civil, Almedina, May 2024.
Ana Cristina Ferreira Gouveia, Responsabilidade Civil do Produtor na Inteligência Artificial, Almedina, May 2024.
Eva Moreira da Silva, As Rela??es entre Responsabilidade Pré-Contratual por Informa??es e os Vícios da Vontade (Erro e Dolo), Almedina, May 2024.
Paulo Guedes, A Verdade Material na Decis?o Judicial no Direito Civil Português, Almedina, May 2024.
IV.1.2.?Generic Guidelines & Cia
V.2. Miscellaneous V.2.1. Economy, Finance and Taxation
On 23 May, the Council of Ministers approved a set of measures for young people: (i) the draft law that creates a new Youth Personal Income Tax (IRS Jovem) regime that imposes a maximum rate of 15 per cent for all young people up to the age of 35, regardless of academic level, with the exception of the last income bracket; (ii) the draft law that exempts from Municipal Property Transfer Tax (IMT) and Stamp Tax (IS) the purchase of a first permanent home by young people up to the age of 35, up to the fourth IMT bracket (up to 316,000 euros), with partial exemption for the value above 316,000 euros and up to 633,000 euros; (iii) the decree-law that creates a public guarantee of up to 15% of the value of the transaction, on properties up to 450,000 euros, with a view to making it possible to grant loans for the first permanent home for young people up to the age of 35; (iv) the decree-law that changes the conditions of access to the Porta 65 programme.
On 27 May, the Council of Ministers approved a set of measures to implement the new housing strategy ("Construir Portugal"), with the following legislation approved: (i) a decree-law repealing the forced or coercive rental regime applied to housing considered vacant, and amending the legislation that creates extraordinary support for families to pay rent and instalments on credit agreements; (ii) a proposal for a law authorising the creation and regulation of a cooperation programme between the state and local authorities for the use of real estate in the state's public domain, real estate in the state's private domain and public institutes, which is vacant or underused, and which establishes a special procedure for the transfer of temporary use; (iii) a draft law authorising changes to the rules on Personal Income Tax, eliminating tax obstacles to geographical mobility for work reasons and reducing the period from 24 to 12 months prior to the date of transfer of the owner's permanent home, proven by the respective tax address, which is necessary to exclude capital gains from taxation.
In addition, the Council of Ministers approved: (i) a legislative authorisation bill repealing the extraordinary contribution on local accommodation properties, as well as setting the coefficient of ageing applicable to local accommodation establishments for the purposes of assessing IMI; (ii) the decree-law amending the legal regime for the operation of local accommodation establishments, eliminating certain burdensome and disproportionate restrictions on private initiative in the sector, and focusing on decentralising powers to regulate local accommodation activity to municipalities, as well as preventing and mediating conflicts in buildings with horizontal property.
On 29 May, the Council of Ministers approved the following pieces of legislation: (i) the decree-law that establishes a special regime for the admission of medical staff, in the category of assistant in the medical career of public business entities integrated into the SNS, to be subject to consultation with the sector's unions under the terms of the law; (ii) the Council of Ministers Resolution that appoints the members of the board of directors of the Central Administration of the Health System, which will be chaired by André Trindade.
V.2.2. Industrial Property
Provisional statistics on Industrial Property Rights (IPR) applications and grants for April 2024 were released on 13 May:
i) In the first four months of the year, 305 applications for national inventions were filed and 67 national inventions were granted, compared to 63 granted in 2023;
ii) The number of European Patent validations filed in Portugal between January and April 2024 fell by 3.2 per cent year-on-year (930 in 2024, 961 in 2023);
iii) There were 7,844 applications for registration of National Trademarks and Other Distinctive Trade Signs (OSDC) between January and April 2024, representing an increase of 2.1%. In the same period, 6,111 National Trademarks and OSDCs were granted (3,916 in 2023);
iv) The number of objects included in national design requests went from 325 between January and April 2023 to 208 in 2024.
On 21 May, the new Table of Industrial Property Fees was published, updating the fees for the various types of Industrial Property for the year 2024, with effect from 1 July.
This update is the result of a decision by the INPI's Board of Directors9 of 20 March 2024, which can be consulted here.
A new legal instrument on Genetic Resources and associated Traditional Knowledge was approved at the Diplomatic Conference organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which took place from 13 to 24 May in Geneva.
According to the new treaty, applicants wishing to apply for a patent for inventions based on genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge must include additional information in the application about the country of origin of the genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge.
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