| Signed | Ratified | |
|---|---|---|
| Rome Statute | Oct. 7, 1998 | Feb. 5, 2002 |
| APIC | Dec. 10, 2002 | Oct. 3, 2007 |
Portugal signed the Rome Statute in October 1998. Before ratifying the Statute, however, an amendment to the Constitution was necessary. The Portuguese Constitution does not allow extradition in cases where the defendant may face a sentence of life imprisonment. Life imprisonment is one of the sentences envisaged in the Rome Statute. A general permission for ratification of the Rome Statute was therefore added to the Constitution, so that surrender to the ICC would not be unconstitutional under Portuguese law.
In 1999, Portugal adopted Law 144/99 regulating international judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The law applies also to cooperation with international judicial entities established by treaty, and therefore also to cooperation with the International Criminal Court. The corpus of the law regulates major aspects of cooperation which enables Portugal to appropriately comply with requests from the Court.
In 2004 Portugal adapted its criminal legislation to the Rome Statute through the adoption of Law N. 31/2004. The legislation generally follows the Rome Statute and the Elements of Crimes with regard to the definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, but goes beyond the Rome Statute in some respects.