LEGAL INSIGHTS

All decisions (judgements) rendered by foreign courts, whether civil, compensatory, or other, must be reviewed and confirmed by the competent Portuguese court to be valid in Portugal.

The review and recognition of foreign judgements is therefore a judicial action, which may be necessary in the context of, among others, applications for Portuguese citizenship, estate planning or litigation, to establish facts relating to, for instance:

• Divorces (consensual or contentious issued in a Notary or Registry Office or in Court);
• Civil/domestic partnerships (e.g. a public deed declaring the stable union by a Notary or Registry Office abroad);
• Adoptions;
• Regulation of Parental Responsibilities.

To have a foreign judgement recognised by Portuguese courts, the following requirements must be met:

• The authenticity of the document containing the judgement cannot be in doubt and the exact content and scope of the decision should be clear;
• The judgement must have become final and unappealable under the law of the country in which it was rendered;
• The foreign court must have jurisdiction and be competent to hand down such judgements, which cannot fall within the exclusive competence of Portuguese courts;
• No judged or pending case in Portugal on the same facts can exist;
• Decisions cannot be incompatible with the principles of international public order of the Portuguese State;
• If applicable, the defendant must have been properly served with notice of the action, according to the law of the country of the originating court, and the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of the parties must have been observed in the process.

For further information or for legal assistance with reviews and confirmation of foreign judgements or with citizenship applications or estate planning, please contact us at geral@sbpslegal.com.