Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters


Article 11
Protection of confidentiality

1. In implementing a request for international co-operation submitted to Portugal, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and supplementary legislation concerning grounds of refusal to testify, seizure of property, telephone tapping, professional or State secrets, or any other cases in which confidentiality is protected, shall apply.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to any information that according to the request, ought to be given by persons not involved in the foreign criminal proceedings.

Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters


Article 6
Mandatory grounds for refusal

1. Requests for co-operation shall be refused:

a) where the proceedings do not comply with the requirements laid down in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950, or other relevant international instruments ratified by Portugal;
b) where there are well-founded reasons for believing that co-operation is sought for the purpose of persecuting or punishing a person on account of that person's race, religion, sex, nationality, language, political or ideological beliefs, or his belonging to a given social group;
c) where the risk exists that the procedural situation of the person might be impaired on account of any of the factors indicated in the preceding sub-paragraph;
d) where the co-operation sought might lead to a trial by a court of exceptional jurisdiction or where it concerns the enforcement of a sentence passed by such a court;
e) where any of the facts in question is punishable with the death sentence or with a sentence resulting in any irreversible injury of the person's integrity;
f) where any of the offences in question carries a life-long or indefinite sentence or measure.

2. The provisions in sub-paragraphs e) and f) of the preceding paragraph shall not preclude co-operation:

should the requesting State, by way of an irreversible decision that binds its courts or any other authority with powers to execute the sentence, have either commuted the death sentence or the sentence resulting in any irreversible injury of the person's integrity, or withdrawn the life-long nature of the sentence or measure;
where the co-operation sought is in the form of extradition for offences that, under the law of the requesting State, carry a life-long or indefinite sentence or measure involving deprivation of or restrictions to liberty, should the requesting State offer assurances that such a sentence or measure shall not be imposed or shall not be executed;

should the requesting State accept the conversion of the sentence or the detention order, by a Portuguese court and under the Portuguese law applicable to the offence or offences for which the person was sentenced;

or

where co-operation is sought on the basis of the provisions of Article 1.1.f), on grounds that it will presumably be relevant for the purpose of preventing such sentences or orders to be rendered.

3. In assessing the sufficiency of the assurances mentioned in sub-paragraph b) of paragraph 2 above, account shall be taken, in the light of the law and practice of the requesting State, inter alia, of the possibility that the sentence is not executed, of a reconsideration of the situation of the person sought and his conditional release, as well as of the possibilities that pardon, amnesty, commutation of the sentence or similar measure be granted, as provided in the law of the requesting State.

4. A request for co-operation shall also be refused where reciprocity is not ensured, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 4. 3.

5. Where co-operation is refused on the grounds offered by the provisions of sub-paragraphs d), e) or f) of paragraph 1 above, the method of co-operation provided for in Article 32.5 shall apply.


Article 7
Refusal on grounds relating to the nature of the offence

1. A request for co-operation shall also be refused where the proceedings concern:

a) Any facts that, according to the concepts of Portuguese law, constitute a political offence or an offence connected with a political offence;
b) any facts that constitute a military offence and do not constitute an offence under ordinary criminal law.

2. The following shall not be regarded as political offences:

a) genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious offences under the 1949 Geneva Conventions;
b) the offences mentioned in Article 1 of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, opened to signature on 27 January 1977;
c) the acts mentioned in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December 1984;
d) any other offences that ought not to be regarded as political under the terms of an international treaty, convention or agreement to which Portugal is a Party.


Article 8
Discontinuation of criminal proceedings

1. Co-operation shall not be admissible where, either in Portugal or in another State in which criminal proceedings concerning the same facts have been initiated:

a) Either the proceedings ended with a final sentence of acquittal, or were otherwise definitively discontinued;
b) either the sentence was carried out, or it cannot be carried out according to the law of the State in which it was passed;
c) the criminal proceedings were discontinued on any other grounds, unless an international convention provides that discontinuation of proceedings under such grounds does not prevent the requested State from engaging in co-operation.

2. The provisions of sub-paragraphs a) and b) of the preceding paragraph shall have no effect where the request by the foreign authority is made for purposes of the judicial review of a sentence and the grounds for such a review are identical to those that are provided for under Portuguese law.

3. The provisions of sub-paragraph a) of paragraph 1 above shall not preclude co-operation where the latter is sought for the purpose of re-opening proceedings, in accordance with the law.


Article 9
Concurrent admissibility and inadmissibility of co-operation

1. If the conduct attributed to the person against whom criminal proceedings are taken falls under several provisions of the Portuguese criminal law, the request for co-operation may be complied with only with respect to such offence or offences in respect of which the request is admissible, provided that the requesting State undertakes to abide by the conditions imposed.

2. However, co-operation shall not be granted if the conduct falls under several provisions of the Portuguese or the foreign criminal law, one of which concerns the conduct in its entirety and the nature of which excludes the possibility of co-operation.


Article 10
Minor offences

Co-operation may be refused where the minor importance of the offence does not justify it.


Article 11
Protection of confidentiality

1. In implementing a request for international co-operation submitted to Portugal, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and supplementary legislation concerning grounds of refusal to testify, seizure of property, telephone tapping, professional or State secrets, or any other cases in which confidentiality is protected, shall apply.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to any information that according to the request, ought to be given by persons not involved in the foreign criminal proceedings.

Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters


Article 18
Optional refusal of international co-operation

1. International co-operation may be refused if the facts that substantiate the request are the subject of criminal proceedings, or if they should or may be the subject of criminal proceedings for which a Portuguese judicial authority has jurisdiction.

2. International co-operation may also be refused if, in view of the circumstances of the case, granting the request might entail serious consequences for the person concerned on account of his age, health or other reasons of a personal nature.

Part I
General

CHAPTER II
General rules of procedure


Article 30
Final communications

1. Any final decision of a judicial authority to the effect of refusing a request for co-operation, shall be transmitted to the foreign requesting authority through the channels mentioned in Article 21 above.

2. Where a request for co-operation is executed, the judicial authority shall forward the respective documents, if applicable, to the foreign authority, in accordance with the provisions of Article 160.

Part II
Extradition

CHAPTER I
Extradition from Portugal

Section II
Extradition procedure


Article 51
Introductory decision and arrest of the person claimed

2. If the judge rapporteur deems that the procedure should be discontinued, he shall submit the file and his written opinion to be examined for a period of five days by the other judges in chamber, the request being submitted to the chamber for decision at. its next meeting.

Part II
Extradition

CHAPTER I
Extradition from Portugal

Section III
Special procedural rules for cases of provisional arrest


Article 63
Time-limits

5. Any decision by the Minister of Justice to the effect of refusing the request shall immediately be transmitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 above, for the purpose of releasing the arrested person.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General



Article 130
Optional refusal

Notwithstanding the general requirements provided for in this law, co-operation requested to Portugal may be refused if:

a) the decision with respect to which the request is made was taken in absentia and there was no legal possibility to have a new trial or for an appeal;

b) that decision is not compatible with the underlying principles of the Portuguese criminal law, notably if in view of the age of the person concerned, that person shall not have been subject to criminal proceedings in Portugal.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General


Article 132
Information

1. The decision on the request for co-operation shall be immediately communicated by the Central Authority to the requesting State and, in case of total or partial refusal, reasons shall be given.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER II
Request for assistance


Article 152
Procedure

4. The execution of letters rogatory shall be refused in the following cases:

a) where the requested authority is not empowered to execute the measures sought, without prejudice of the transmission of the letter rogatory to the competent judicial authority if such authority is a Portuguese authority;
b) where the measures sought are forbidden by law or contrary to the Portuguese "ordre public";
c) where the execution of the letter rogatory offends the sovereignty or the security of the State;
d) where the measures imply the execution of a decision of a foreign court, and that decision must have previously been reviewed and confirmed and that decision has not been reviewed and confirmed.

5. Other requests, in particular requests relating to criminal records, to the verification of the identity of a person and mere requests for information, may be directly forwarded to the competent authorities or entities and, once complied with, the result communicated back through the same channels.

6. The provisions of paragraph 4 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to requests that do not take the form of a letter rogatory.

7. The provisions of paragraph 3 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to letters rogatory addressed by any competent Portuguese judicial authority to any foreign authorities; letters rogatory shall be issued in every instance where any competent Portuguese judicial authority deems that such is necessary in order to obtain evidence of any fact that is essential either to the prosecution or to the defence.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER III
Special forms of international assistance


Article 154
Summons to appear

3. The Portuguese authority shall refuse to service any summons where the person concerned is threatened with sanctions or where the safety of the person concerned is not safeguarded.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER III
Special forms of international assistance


Article 155
Temporary surrender of persons in custody

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, surrender shall be refused if:

a) the presence of the person concerned is necessary at criminal proceedings pending in Portugal;
b) it is liable to prolong the provisional arrest of the person concerned;
c) regarding the circumstances of the case, the Portuguese judicial authority does not deem surrender to be convenient.

Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters

Article 11
Protection of confidentiality

1. In implementing a request for international co-operation submitted to Portugal, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and supplementary legislation concerning grounds of refusal to testify, seizure of property, telephone tapping, professional or State secrets, or any other cases in which confidentiality is protected, shall apply.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to any information that according to the request, ought to be given by persons not involved in the foreign criminal proceedings.

Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters


Article 6
Mandatory grounds for refusal

1. Requests for co-operation shall be refused :

a) where the proceedings do not comply with the requirements laid down in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950, or other relevant international instruments ratified by Portugal ;
b) where there are well-founded reasons for believing that co-operation is sought for the purpose of persecuting or punishing a person on account of that person's race, religion, sex, nationality, language, political or ideological beliefs, or his belonging to a given social group ;
c) where the risk exists that the procedural situation of the person might be impaired on account of any of the factors indicated in the preceding sub-paragraph ;
d) where the co-operation sought might lead to a trial by a court of exceptional jurisdiction or where it concerns the enforcement of a sentence passed by such a court ;
e) where any of the facts in question is punishable with the death sentence or with a sentence resulting in any irreversible injury of the person's integrity ;
f) where any of the offences in question carries a life-long or indefinite sentence or measure.

2. The provisions in sub-paragraphs e) and f) of the preceding paragraph shall not preclude co-operation

should the requesting State, by way of an irreversible decision that binds its courts or any other authority with powers to execute the sentence, have either commuted the death sentence or the sentence resulting in any irreversible injury of the person's integrity, or withdrawn the life-long nature of the sentence or measure ;
where the co-operation sought is in the form of extradition for offences that, under the law of the requesting State, carry a life-long or indefinite sentence or measure involving deprivation of or restrictions to liberty, should the requesting State offer assurances that such a sentence or measure shall not be imposed or shall not be executed ;
should the requesting State accept the conversion of the sentence or the detention order, by a Portuguese court and under the Portuguese law applicable to the offence or offences for which the person was sentenced ; or
where co-operation is sought on the basis of the provisions of Article 1.1.f), on grounds that it will presumably be relevant for the purpose of preventing such sentences or orders to be rendered.

3. In assessing the sufficiency of the assurances mentioned in sub-paragraph b) of paragraph 2 above, account shall be taken, in the light of the law and practice of the requesting State, inter alia, of the possibility that the sentence is not executed, of a reconsideration of the situation of the person sought and his conditional release, as well as of the possibilities that pardon, amnesty, commutation of the sentence or similar measure be granted, as provided in the law of the requesting State.

4. A request for co-operation shall also be refused where reciprocity is not ensured, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 4. 3.

5. Where co-operation is refused on the grounds offered by the provisions of sub-paragraphs d), e) or f) of paragraph 1 above, the method of co-operation provided for in Article 32.5 shall apply.

Article 7
Refusal on grounds relating to the nature of the offence

1. A request for co-operation shall also be refused where the proceedings concern :

a) Any facts that, according to the concepts of Portuguese law, constitute a political offence or an offence connected with a political offence
b) any facts that constitute a military offence and do not constitute an offence under ordinary criminal law.

2. The following shall not be regarded as political offences

a) genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious offences under the 1949 Geneva Conventions ;
b) the offences mentioned in Article 1 of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, opened to signature on 27 January 1977 ;
c) the acts mentioned in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December 1984 ;
d) any other offences that ought not to be regarded as political under the terms of an international treaty, convention or agreement to which Portugal is a Party.


Article 8
Discontinuation of criminal proceedings

1. Co-operation shall not be admissible where, either in Portugal or in another State in which criminal proceedings concerning the same facts have been initiated :

a) Either the proceedings ended with a final sentence of acquittal, or were otherwise definitively discontinued ;
b) either the sentence was carried out, or it cannot be carried out according to the law of the State in which it was passed ;
c) the criminal proceedings were discontinued on any other grounds, unless an international convention provides that discontinuation of proceedings under such grounds does not prevent the requested State from engaging in co-operation.

2. The provisions of sub-paragraphs a) and b) of the preceding paragraph shall have no effect where the request by the foreign authority is made for purposes of the judicial review of a sentence and the grounds for such a review are identical to those that are provided for under Portuguese law.

3. The provisions of sub-paragraph a) of paragraph 1 above shall not preclude co-operation where the latter is sought for the purpose of re-opening proceedings, in accordance with the law.

Article 9
Concurrent admissibility and inadmissibility of co-operation

1. If the conduct attributed to the person against whom criminal proceedings are taken falls under several provisions of the Portuguese criminal law, the request for co-operation may be complied with only with respect to such offence or offences in respect of which the request is admissible, provided that the requesting State undertakes to abide by the conditions imposed.

2. However, co-operation shall not be granted if the conduct falls under several provisions of the Portuguese or the foreign criminal law, one of which concerns the conduct in its entirety and the nature of which excludes the possibility of co-operation.

Article 10
Minor offences

Co-operation may be refused where the minor importance of the offence does not justify it.

Article 11
Protection of confidentiality

1. In implementing a request for international co-operation submitted to Portugal, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and supplementary legislation concerning grounds of refusal to testify, seizure of property, telephone tapping, professional or State secrets, or any other cases in which confidentiality is protected, shall apply.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to any information that according to the request, ought to be given by persons not involved in the foreign criminal proceedings.

Part I
General

CHAPTER I
Subject-matter, scope and general principles of international judicial co-operation in criminal matters

Article 18
Optional refusal of international co-operation

1. International co-operation may be refused if the facts that substantiate the request are the subject of criminal proceedings, or if they should or may be the subject of criminal proceedings for which a Portuguese judicial authority has jurisdiction.

2. International co-operation may also be refused if, in view of the circumstances of the case, granting the request might entail serious consequences for the person concerned on account of his age, health or other reasons of a personal nature.

Part I
General

CHAPTER II
General rules of procedure

Article 24
Admissibility

2. Any decision that declares the request inadmissible must be motivated and may not be appealed against.

3. The decisions mentioned in the preceding paragraph must be communicated by the Central Authority to the national or foreign requesting authority.

Part I
General

CHAPTER II
General rules of procedure

Article 30
Final communications

1. Any final decision of a judicial authority to the effect of refusing a request for co-operation, shall be transmitted to the foreign requesting authority through the channels mentioned in Article 21 above.

2. Where a request for co-operation is executed, the judicial authority shall forward the respective documents, if applicable, to the foreign authority, in accordance with the provisions of Article 160.

Part II
Extradition

CHAPTER I
Extradition from Portugal

Section II
Extradition procedure

Article 51
Introductory decision and arrest of the person claimed

2. If the judge rapporteur deems that the procedure should be discontinued, he shall submit the file and his written opinion to be examined for a period of five days by the other judges in chamber, the request being submitted to the chamber for decision at its next meeting.

Part II
Extradition

CHAPTER I
Extradition from Portugal

Section III
Special procedural rules for cases of provisional arrest

Article 63
Time-limits

5. Any decision by the Minister of Justice to the effect of refusing the request shall immediately be transmitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 above, for the purpose of releasing the arrested person.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General

Article 130
Optional refusal

Notwithstanding the general requirements provided for in this law, co-operation requested to Portugal may be refused if :

a) the decision with respect to which the request is made was taken in absentia and there was no legal possibility to have a new trial or for an appeal ;
b) that decision is not compatible with the underlying principles of the Portuguese criminal law, notably if in view of the age of the person concerned, that person shall not have been subject to criminal proceedings in Portugal.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General

Article 132
Information

1. The decision on the request for co-operation shall be immediately communicated by the Central Authority to the requesting State and, in case of total or partial refusal, reasons shall be given.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER II
Request for assistance

Article 152
Procedure

4. The execution of letters rogatory shall be refused in the following cases : where the requested authority is not empowered to execute the measures sought, without prejudice of the transmission of the letter rogatory to the competent judicial authority if such authority is a Portuguese authority ; where the measures sought are forbidden by law or contrary to the Portuguese "ordre public" ;
where the execution of the letter rogatory offends the sovereignty or the security of the State ; where the measures imply the execution of a decision of a foreign court, and that decision must have previously been reviewed and confirmed and that decision has not been reviewed and confirmed.

5. Other requests, in particular requests relating to criminal records, to the verification of the identity of a person and mere requests for information, may be directly forwarded to the competent authorities or entities and, once complied with, the result communicated back through the same channels.

6. The provisions of paragraph 4 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to requests that do not take the form of a letter rogatory.

7. The provisions of paragraph 3 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to letters rogatory addressed by any competent Portuguese judicial authority to any foreign authorities; letters rogatory shall be issued in every instance where any competent Portuguese judicial authority deems that such is necessary in order to obtain evidence of any fact that is essential either to the prosecution or to the defence.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER III
Special forms of international assistance

Article 154
Summons to appear

3. The Portuguese authority shall refuse to service any summons where the person concerned is threatened with sanctions or where the safety of the person concerned is not safeguarded.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER III
Special forms of international assistance

Article 155
Temporary surrender of persons in custody

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, surrender shall be refused if :

a) the presence of the person concerned is necessary at criminal proceedings pending in Portugal ;
b) it is liable to prolong the provisional arrest of the person concerned ;
c) regarding the circumstances of the case, the Portuguese judicial authority does not deem surrender to be convenient.