Part I Fundamental rights and duties
Section II Rights, Freedoms, and Safeguards
Chapter I Personal Rights, Freedoms, and Safeguards
Article 29 Application of Criminal Law
1. No one shall be sentenced under the criminal law unless the action or omission in question is punishable under the terms of a pre-existing law, nor shall any person be the object of a security measure unless the prerequisites therefore are laid down by a pre-existing law.
2. The provisions of the previous paragraph shall not preclude the punishment up to the limits laid down by internal Portuguese law of an action or omission which was deemed criminal under the general principles of commonly recognised international law at the moment of its commission .
BOOK I-GENERAL PART
TITLE I-THE CRIMINAL LAW
SINGLE CHAPTER-GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 2
Temporal applicability
1- Penalties and security measures are determined by the law in force at the time of the commission of the act or the fulfilment of the conditions which they depend on.
2- A punishable act in accordance with the law in force at the moment of its completion ceases
being punishable if a new law eliminates it from the number of infractions; in this case, if there has
been condemnation, even if it has become a definitive sentence, the execution ceases and all its
penal effects.
3- If a law is valid for a determined period of time, an act committed during this period continues to be punishable.
4- If the laws in force at the time of the commission of the punishable act are different from those
established in posterior laws, the regime more favourable to the agent is always applicable, except when the agent has already been condemned by a definitive sentence.
2. If a State becomes a Party to this Statute after its entry into force, the Court may exercise its jurisdiction only with respect to crimes committed after the entry into force of this Statute for that State, unless that State has made a declaration under article 12, paragraph 3.
1. No person shall be criminally responsible under this Statute for conduct prior to the entry into force of the Statute.
2. In the event of a change in the law applicable to a given case prior to a final judgement, the law more favourable to the person being investigated, prosecuted or convicted shall apply.