Portugal 1976 Constitution (reviewed 2005) - Page 5 of 7

Table of Contents

Part III. Organisation of political power

Title I. General principles

Article 108. Source and exercise of power

Political power shall lie with the people and shall be exercised in accordance with this Constitution.

Article 109. Citizens’ participation in politics

The direct and active participation in politics by men and women is a fundamental instrument in the consolidation of the democratic system, and the law shall promote both equality in the exercise of civic and political rights and the absence of gender-based discrimination in access to political office.

Article 110. Bodies that exercise sovereign power

The President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, the Government and the Courts shall constitute bodies that exercise sovereign power.
The formation, composition, responsibilities and power and modus operandi of the bodies that exercise sovereign power shall be those laid down by this Constitution.

Article 111. Separation and interdependence

Bodies that exercise sovereign power shall be separate and interdependent as laid down by this Constitution.
No body that exercises sovereign power and no body that belongs to an autonomous region or local authority shall delegate its powers to other bodies, save in such cases and under such terms as are expressly laid down by this Constitution and the law.

Article 112. Legislation

Legislation shall comprise laws, executive laws and regional legislative decrees.
Without prejudice to the subordination to the corresponding laws of executive laws that are enacted under legislative authorisation and of those that develop the basic general elements of the legal systems, laws and executive laws shall possess equal force.
Organisational laws, laws that must be passed by a two-thirds majority, and laws which under this Constitution are compulsory legal prerequisites for other laws or which must be obeyed by other laws, shall possess superior force.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 227(1)b and c, legislative decrees shall possess a regional scope and shall address such matters set out in the political and administrative statute of the autonomous region in question as are not the exclusive responsibility of the bodies that exercise sovereign power.
No law shall create other categories of legislation, or grant other types of act the power to interpret, integrate, modify, suspend or revoke any of its provisions in such a way as to produce effects in relation to third parties.
Government regulations shall take the form of regulatory orders when so required by the law they regulate, as well as in the case of independent regulations.
Regulations shall make express mention of the laws which they are intended to regulate, or which lay down the subjective and objective power to issue them.
The transposition of European Union legislation and other legal acts into the internal legal system shall take the form of a law, an executive law, or, in accordance with (4) above, a regional legislative decree.

Article 113. General principles of electoral law

As a general rule, the officeholders of the bodies that exercise sovereign power, of regional authorities and of local authorities shall be appointed by direct, secret and periodic suffrage.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 15(4) and (5) and 121(2), electoral registration shall be officious, compulsory and permanent and there shall be a single registration system for all elections that are held by direct, universal suffrage.
Election campaigns shall be governed by the following principles:
1. Freedom of propaganda;
2. Equal opportunities and treatment for all candidatures;
3. The impartiality of public bodies towards all candidatures;
4. The transparency and scrutiny of electoral accounts.
Citizens shall possess the duty to cooperate with the electoral authorities in such ways as the law may lay down.
Votes cast shall be converted into seats in accordance with the principle of proportional representation.
Any act which dissolves a collegiate body that is based on direct suffrage shall also set the date of a new election thereto. Such elections shall be held within the following sixty days and in accordance with the electoral law that is in force at the time of the dissolution, failing which they shall be legally invalid.
The power to rule on the correctness and validity of electoral acts shall pertain to the courts.

Article 114. Political parties and right to opposition

Political parties shall hold seats in the bodies that are elected by universal, direct suffrage in accordance with their proportion of election results.
Minorities shall possess the right to democratic opposition, as laid down by this Constitution and the law.
Political parties that hold seats in the Assembly of the Republic and do not form part of the Government shall particularly possess the right to be regularly and directly informed by the Government as to the situation and progress of the main matters of public interest. Political parties that hold seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions or in any other directly elected assemblies shall possess the same right in relation to the respective executive, in the event that they do not form part thereof.

Article 115. Referenda

In cases provided for in, and as laid down by, this Constitution and the law, following a proposal from the Assembly of the Republic or the Government in relation to matters that fall under their respective responsibilities, the President of the Republic may decide to call upon citizens who are registered to vote in Portuguese territory to directly and bindingly pronounce themselves by referendum.
Referenda may also be held on the initiative of citizens who submit a request to the Assembly of the Republic. Such requests shall be submitted and considered under the terms and within the time limits laid down by law.
The object of a referendum shall be limited to important issues concerning the national interest upon which the Assembly of the Republic or the Government must decide by passing an international agreement or by passing legislation.
The following shall not be subject to referendum:
1. Alterations to this Constitution;
2. Issues and acts with a budgetary, tax-related or financial content;
3. The matters provided for in Article 161, without prejudice to the provisions of the following paragraph;
4. The matters provided for in Article 164, save the provisions of subparagraph i).
The provisions of the previous paragraph shall not prejudice the submission to referendum of such important issues concerning the national interest as should be the object of an international agreement pursuant to Article 161i, except when they concern peace or the rectification of borders.
Each referendum shall only address one matter. Questions shall be objectively, clearly and precisely formulated, shall solicit yes or no answers, and shall not exceed a maximum number to be laid down by law. The law shall also lay down the other terms governing the formulation and holding of referenda.
Referenda shall not be called or held between the dates on which general elections for the bodies that exercise sovereign power, elections for the self-government bodies of the autonomous regions, for local authority bodies and for Members of the European Parliament are called and those on which they are held.
The President of the Republic shall submit all draft referenda submitted to him by the Assembly of the Republic or the Government, to compulsory prior determination of their constitutionality and legality.
The provisions of Article 113(1), (2), (3), (4) and (7) shall apply to referenda, mutatis mutandis.
Draft referenda that are refused by the President of the Republic or are negatived by the electorate shall not be resubmitted during the same legislative session, save new elections to the Assembly of the Republic, or until the Government resigns or is removed.
Referenda shall only be binding in the event that the number of voters exceeds half the number of registered electors.
Citizens who reside abroad and are properly registered to vote under the provisions of Article 121(2) shall be called upon to take part in referenda that address matters which specifically also concern them.
Referenda may be regional in scope, in accordance with Article 232(2).

Article 116. Collegiate bodies

Save in cases provided for by law, meetings of assemblies that act as bodies which exercise sovereign power, as bodies of autonomous regions or as local authority bodies shall be held in public.
Collegiate bodies shall take their decisions in the presence of the majority of their prescribed membership.
Save in cases provided for by this Constitution, the law and the applicable rules of procedure, collegiate bodies shall take their decisions by a simple majority and abstentions shall not count in the calculation thereof.

Article 117. Status of political officeholders

Political officeholders shall be politically, civilly and criminally liable for their actions and omissions in the exercise of their functions.
The law shall lay down both the duties, responsibilities, liabilities and incompatibilities of political office and the consequences of any breach thereof, and the rights, privileges and immunities that apply thereto.
The law shall specify the special crimes for which political officeholders may be held liable, together with the applicable penalties and the effects thereof, which may include removal from office or loss of seat.

Article 118. Renewal principle

No one shall hold any national, regional or local political office for life.
The law may specify limits on successive renewals of mandates of holders of executive political office.

Article 119. Publicising of acts

The following shall be published in the official journal – the Diário da República:
1. Laws concerning the Constitution;
2. International agreements and the applicable ratification notices, together with the rest of the notices in relation thereto;
3. Laws, executive laws and regional legislative decrees;
4. Decrees issued by the President of the Republic;
5. Resolutions of the Assembly of the Republic and of the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
6. The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic, the Council of State and the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
7. The rulings of the Constitutional Court and such other court rulings to which the law grants generally binding force;
8. Regulatory orders and other decrees and regulations issued by the Government, as well as decrees of the Representatives of the Republic to the autonomous regions and regional regulatory decrees;
9. The results of elections to bodies that exercise sovereign power, bodies of autonomous regions and local authority bodies, as well as to the European Parliament, and the results of national and regional referenda.
Failure to publicise the acts provided for in subparagraphs a) to h) of the previous paragraph and of any act of bodies that exercise sovereign power, bodies of autonomous regions and local authority bodies shall cause such acts to be without legal force.
The law shall lay down the means by which other acts shall be publicised and the consequences of any failure to do so.

Title II. President of the Republic

Chapter I. Status, role and election

Article 120. Definition

The President of the Republic shall represent the Portuguese Republic, shall guarantee national independence, the unity of the state and the proper functioning of the democratic institutions, and shall be ex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Article 121. Election

The President of the Republic shall be elected by the universal, direct, secret suffrage of all Portuguese citizens who are registered to vote in Portuguese territory and, in accordance with the following paragraph, of all Portuguese citizens who reside abroad.
The law shall regulate the right to vote of Portuguese citizens who reside abroad, to which end it shall pay due regard to the existence of ties that effectively link them to the Portuguese community.
The right to vote in Portuguese territory shall be exercised in person.

Article 122. Eligibility

Citizens of Portuguese origin who are registered to vote and have attained the age of thirty-five shall be eligible for election.

Article 123. Eligibility for re-election

Re-election to a third consecutive term of office, or during the five years immediately following the end of a second consecutive term of office, shall not be permitted.
In the event that the President of the Republic resigns, he shall not stand again in the next elections, or in any that take place in the five years immediately following his resignation.

Article 124. Nominations

Nominations for President of the Republic shall be put forward by at least seven thousand five hundred and at most fifteen thousand registered electors.
Nominations shall be submitted to the Constitutional Court at least thirty days prior to the date set for the election.
In the event of the death of any candidate, or of any other fact that renders any candidate incapable of performing the functions of President of the Republic, the election process shall recommence under such terms as the law shall lay down.

Article 125. Date of election

The President of the Republic shall be elected during the sixty days prior to the end of his predecessor’s term of office, or during the sixty days after that office becomes vacant.
Elections shall not take place during the ninety days prior to or following the date of elections to the Assembly of the Republic.
In the case provided for in the previous paragraph, the election shall take place during the ten days following the end of the period set out therein, and the term of office of the outgoing President shall automatically be extended for the necessary period of time.

Article 126. Electoral system

The candidate who receives more than half of the validly cast votes shall be elected President of the Republic. Blank ballot papers shall not be deemed validly cast.
If none of the candidates obtains this number of votes, a second ballot shall be held within twenty-one days of the date of the first one.
Only the two candidates who received most votes in the first ballot and have not withdrawn their candidatures shall stand in the second ballot.

Article 127. Installation and swearing in

The President elect shall take office before the Assembly of the Republic.
His installation shall take place on the last day of the outgoing President’s term of office, or, in the case of election to a vacant office, on the eighth day following that on which the election results are published.
Upon taking office the President of the Republic elect shall take the following oath:I swear by my honour to faithfully perform the office with which I am invested and to defend and observe the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and cause it to be observed.

Article 128. Term of office

The term of office of President of the Republic shall be five years and shall end upon installation of the new President elect.
In the event that the office falls vacant, the newly elected President of the Republic shall commence a new term of office.

Article 129. Absence from Portuguese territory

The President of the Republic shall not absent himself from Portuguese territory without the consent of the Assembly of the Republic or, in the event that the Assembly is not in full session, of its Standing Committee.
Consent shall be dispensed with in cases in which the President of the Republic is in transit or is on an unofficial visit lasting no more than five days. However, he shall notify the Assembly of the Republic of such cases in advance.
Failure to comply with the provisions of (1) above shall automatically entail loss of office.

Article 130. Criminal liability

The President of the Republic shall answer before the Supreme Court of Justice for crimes committed in the performance of his functions.
Proceedings may only be initiated by the Assembly of the Republic, upon a motion subscribed by one fifth and a decision passed by a two-thirds majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office.
Conviction shall cause removal from office and disqualification from re-election.
For crimes that are not committed in the performance of his functions, the President of the Republic shall answer before the common courts, once his term of office has ended.

Article 131. Resignation

The President of the Republic may resign by means of a message addressed to Assembly of the Republic.
Such resignation shall take effect when the Assembly of the Republic takes note thereof, without prejudice to its subsequent publication in the Diário da República.

Article 132. Acting President

In the event that the President of the Republic is temporarily unable to perform his functions, or that the office is vacant and until such time as the new President elect is installed, his functions shall be performed by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, or, in the event that the latter is unable to do so, by his substitute.
For such time as he acts as acting President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Republic or his substitute’s mandate as Member of the Assembly shall automatically be suspended.
The President of the Republic shall retain the rights and privileges inherent to his office during such time as he is temporarily unable to perform his functions.
An acting President of the Republic shall enjoy all the honours and prerogatives of the office, but his rights shall be those of the office to which he was elected.

Chapter II. Responsibilities

Article 133. Responsibilities in relation to other bodies

In relation to other bodies the President of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Chairing the Council of State;
In accordance with electoral law, setting the date for elections for President of the Republic, Members of the Assembly of the Republic, Members of the European Parliament and members of the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
Calling extraordinary sittings of the Assembly of the Republic;
Addressing messages to the Assembly of the Republic and the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
Subject to the provisions of Article 172 and after first consulting both the parties with seats in the Assembly and the Council of State, dissolving the Assembly of the Republic;
Appointing the Prime Minister pursuant to Article 187(1);
Removing the Government in accordance with Article 195(2), and discharging the Prime Minister from office pursuant to Article 186(4);
Upon a proposal from the Prime Minister, appointing members of the Government and discharging them from office;
When asked to do so by the Prime Minister, chairing the Council of Ministers;
After first consulting the Council of State and the parties with seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions, and subject to the provisions of Article 172, mutatis mutandis, dissolving such Legislative Assemblies;
After first consulting the Government, appointing the Representatives of the Republic to the autonomous regions and discharging them from office;
Upon a proposal from the Government, appointing the President of the Audit Court and the Attorney General and discharging them from office;
Appointing five members of the Council of State and two members of the Supreme Judicial Council;
Chairing the Supreme National Defence Council;
Upon a proposal from the Government, appointing the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and, after consulting the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces if any, and the Chiefs of Staff of the three armed services.

Article 134. Personal responsibilities

The President of the Republic shall be personally responsible for:

Performing the functions of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces;
Enacting laws, executive laws and regulatory orders and having them published, and signing both resolutions of the Assembly of the Republic that pass international agreements and the rest of the Government’s decrees;
Submitting important issues of national interest, as laid down in Article 115, and those referred to in Articles 232(2) and 256(3), to referendum;
Declaring a state of siege or a state of emergency in compliance with the provisions of Articles 19 and 138;
Pronouncing upon all emergencies that are of serious consequence to the life of the Republic;
After first consulting the Government, pardoning offences or commuting sentences;
Asking the Constitutional Court to undertake a prior review of the constitutionality of the rules laid down by laws and executive laws and in international agreements;
Asking the Constitutional Court to rule whether legal provisions or statutes are unconstitutional due to any inclusion or omission;
Awarding decorations in accordance with the law, and performing the office of Grand Master of Portugal’s honorary orders.

Article 135. Responsibilities in international relations

In international relations the President of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Appointing ambassadors and extraordinary envoys upon a proposal from the Government, and accrediting foreign diplomatic representatives;
Once they have been duly passed, ratifying international treaties;
Upon a proposal from the Government, after consulting the Council of State and subject to authorisation by the Assembly of the Republic, or, if the Assembly is not sitting and it is not possible to arrange for it to sit immediately, by its Standing Committee, declaring war in the case of effective or imminent aggression and making peace.

Article 136. Enactment and veto

Within twenty days of the receipt of any decree of the Assembly of the Republic for enactment as a law, or of the publication of a Constitutional Court ruling that does not declare any of the decree’s provisions unconstitutional, the President of the Republic shall either enact the decree or exercise the right of veto. In the latter case he shall send a message setting out the grounds therefore and requesting that the statute be reconsidered.
If the Assembly of the Republic confirms its original vote by an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office, the President of the Republic shall enact the decree within eight days of receiving it.
However, a majority that is at least equal to two thirds of all Members present and greater than an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office shall be required to confirm decrees that take the form of organic laws, as well as to confirm those concerning the following matters:
1. External relations;
2. Boundaries between the public, private and cooperative sectors in relation to the ownership of the means of production;
3. Such regulations governing the electoral acts provided for by this Constitution as do not take the form of an organic law.
Within forty days of the receipt of any Government decree for enactment, or of the publication of a Constitutional Court ruling that does not declare any of the decree’s provisions unconstitutional, the President of the Republic shall either enact the decree or exercise his right of veto. In the latter case he shall inform the Government in writing of the reasons for doing so.
The President of the Republic shall also exercise the right of veto pursuant to Articles 278 and 279.

Article 137. Failure to enact or sign

In the event that the President of the Republic fails to enact or sign any of the acts provided for in Article 134(b), the said act shall be legally invalid.

Article 138. Declaration of a state of siege or a state of emergency

Declaration of a state of siege or a state of emergency shall require prior consultation of the Government and authorisation by the Assembly of the Republic, or, if the Assembly is not sitting and it is not possible to arrange for it to sit immediately, by its Standing Committee.
In the event that a declaration of a state of siege or a state of emergency is authorised by the Assembly of the Republic’s Standing Committee, such declaration shall require confirmation by the Plenary as soon as it is possible to arrange for it to sit.

Article 139. Acts of an acting President of the Republic

Acting Presidents of the Republic shall not undertake any of the acts provided for in Articles 133e and n and 134c.
Acting Presidents of the Republic shall only undertake any of the acts provided for in Articles 133b, c, f, m and p, 134a and 135a after first consulting the Council of State.

Article 140. Ministerial counter-signature

Acts that the President of the Republic undertakes under the terms of Articles 133h, j, l, m and p, 134b, d and f) and 135a, b and c shall require counter-signature by the Government.
In the event that the Government does not counter-sign any such act, the said act shall be legally invalid.

Chapter III. Council of State

Article 141. Definition

The Council of State shall be the political body that advises the President of the Republic.

Article 142. Composition

The Council of State shall be chaired by the President of the Republic and shall also be composed of the following members:

The President of the Assembly of the Republic;
The Prime Minister;
The President of the Constitutional Court;
The Ombudsman;
The presidents of the regional governments;
Such former Presidents of the Republic as were elected under this Constitution and were not removed from office;
Five citizens whom the President of the Republic shall appoint for the period of his term of office;
Five citizens whom the Assembly of the Republic shall elect in accordance with the principle of proportional representation for the period of the legislature.

Article 143. Installation and term of office

The members of the Council of State shall be installed by the President of the Republic.
Those members of the Council of State who are provided for in Article 142a to e shall continue to be members for as long as they remain in the respective offices.
Those members of the Council of State who are provided for in Article 142g and h shall continue to be members until their replacements are installed.

Article 144. Organisation and proceedings

The Council of State shall be responsible for drawing up its own Rules of Procedure.
Council of State meetings shall not be public.

Article 145. Responsibilities

The Council of State shall be responsible for:

Giving its opinion on dissolutions of the Assembly of the Republic and the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
Giving its opinion on the removal of the Government in the case provided for in Article 195(2);
Giving its opinion on declarations of war and the making of peace;
Giving its opinion on the acts of acting Presidents of the Republic referred to in Article 139;
Giving its opinion on other cases provided for by this Constitution, and in general and when asked to do so by the President of the Republic, advising him in the exercise of his office.

Article 146. Issue of opinions

The Council of State shall issue the opinions provided for in Article 145a to e at a meeting which the President of the Republic shall call for that purpose, and such opinions shall be made public at the time of the act to which they refer.

Title III. Assembly of the Republic

Chapter I. Status, role and election

Article 147. Definition

The Assembly of the Republic shall be the assembly that represents all Portuguese citizens.

Article 148. Composition

The Assembly of the Republic shall possess a minimum of one hundred and eighty and a maximum of two hundred and thirty Members, as laid down by electoral law.

Article 149. Constituencies

Members shall be elected for constituencies that shall be geographically defined by law. The law may create plurinominal and uninominal constituencies and lay down the nature and complementarity thereof, all in such a way as to ensure that votes are converted into seats in accordance with the proportional representation system and using d’Hondt’s highest-average rule.
With the exception of the national constituency, if any, the number of Members for each plurinominal constituency in Portuguese territory shall be proportional to the number of citizens registered to vote therein.

Article 150. Eligibility

Save such restrictions as electoral law may lay down in relation to local incompatibilities or the exercise of certain offices, all Portuguese citizens who are registered to vote shall be eligible for election.

Article 151. Nominations

Nominations shall be submitted by political parties as laid down by law. Parties may submit such nominations individually or in coalition and their lists of candidates may include citizens who are not registered members of any of the parties in question.
No one shall be a candidate for more than one constituency of the same nature, with the exception of the national constituency, if any. No one may appear on more than one list.

Article 152. Political representation

The law shall not limit the conversion of votes into seats by requiring a minimum national percentage of votes cast.
Members shall represent the whole country and not the constituencies for which they are elected.

Article 153. Beginning and end of term of office

Members’ terms of office shall commence upon the first sitting of the Assembly of the Republic following elections thereto and shall end upon the first sitting following the subsequent elections thereto, without prejudice to the suspension or termination of any individual mandate.
Electoral law shall regulate the filling of vacancies that arise in the Assembly and, in cases in which there are important grounds for doing so, the temporary substitution of Members.

Article 154. Incompatibilities and prevention from exercise of office

Members who are appointed to the Government shall not exercise the office of Member until they leave the Government, and shall be temporarily substituted in accordance with the previous Article.
The law shall lay down any other incompatibilities.
The law shall regulate cases and situations in which Members shall require the Assembly of the Republic’s authorisation in order to be jurors, arbiters, experts or witnesses.

Article 155. Exercise of the office of Member

Members shall exercise their mandates freely and shall be guaranteed the conditions needed to perform their functions effectively, particularly those needed to maintain the indispensable contact with registered electors and those needed to ensure that the latter are regularly kept informed.
The law shall regulate the circumstances under which the absence of Members from official acts or proceedings that do not concern the Assembly of the Republic, due to Assembly sittings or missions, shall constitute valid grounds for adjourning the said acts or proceedings.
Public bodies shall possess the duty, as laid down by law, to cooperate with Members in the performance of their functions.

Article 156. Members’ powers

Members shall have the following powers:

To submit draft amendments to the Constitution;
To submit Member’s bills, draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure, draft resolutions, particularly in relation to referenda, and draft decisions, and to request that they be scheduled for debate;
To take part and speak in parliamentary debates, as laid down by the Rules of Procedure;
To question the Government about any of its acts or those of the Public Administration, and to obtain answers within a reasonable period of time, save the provisions of the law concerning state secrets;
To request and obtain from the Government or the governing bodies of any public entity, such information and documents and official publications as the Member or Members in question may deem useful to the exercise of their mandate;
To request the formation of parliamentary committees of inquiry;
Those laid down by the Rules of Procedure.

Article 157. Immunities

Members shall not be civilly or criminally liable for or subject to disciplinary proceedings in relation to their votes or the opinions they express in the performance of their functions.
Members shall not appear as makers of declarations or defendants without the Assembly’s authorisation. In the event of strong evidence of the commission of a serious crime punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of more than three years, the Assembly shall obligatorily authorise a Member’s appearance as defendant.
No Member may be detained, arrested or imprisoned without the Assembly’s authorisation, save for a serious crime punishable by the type of prison term referred to in the previous paragraph and in flagrante delicto.
In the event that criminal proceedings are brought against any Member and he is definitively charged, the Assembly shall decide whether or not he is to be suspended so that the proceedings can take their course. In the event of a crime of the type referred to in the previous paragraphs, the Assembly shall obligatorily suspend the Member.

Article 158. Rights and privileges

Members shall enjoy the following rights and privileges:

Deferment of military, civic and civil defence service;
Freedom of movement and the right to a special passport during official trips abroad;
A special identity card;
Such allowances as the law may lay down.

Article 159. Duties

Members shall possess the following duties:

To attend plenary sittings and any committees to which they belong
To perform such offices in the Assembly and such functions as they are appointed to upon proposals by their respective parliamentary groups;
To take part in voting.

Article 160. Loss and resignation of seat

Members shall lose their seat in the event that:
1. They become subject to any of the disqualifications or incompatibilities laid down by law;
2. They do not take up their seat in the Assembly, or they exceed the number of absences laid down by the Rules of Procedure;
3. They register as members of a party other than that for which they stood for election;
4. They are convicted by a court of any of the special crimes for which political officeholders may be held liable, which they commit in the exercise of their functions and for which they are sentenced to such loss, or they are convicted of participating in organisations that are racist or display a fascist ideology.
Members may resign their seat by means of a written declaration.

Chapter II. Responsibilities

Article 161. Political and legislative responsibilities

The Assembly of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Passing amendments to the Constitution in accordance with Articles 284 to 289;
Passing the political and administrative statutes of the autonomous regions and the laws governing the election of the members of their Legislative Assemblies;
Making laws on all matters, save those that are the exclusive responsibility of the Government under this Constitution;
Granting the Government authorisations to legislate;
Granting the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions the authorisations provided for in Article 227(1)b;
Granting generic amnesties and pardons;
Upon proposals from the Government, passing the laws on the Major Options of the National Plans and the State Budget;
Authorising the Government to contract and grant loans and engage in other lending operations, apart from floating debt operations, laying down the general terms and conditions governing such loans and lending operations, and setting the upper limit for guarantees to be given by the Government in any given year;
Passing treaties, particularly those that entail Portugal’s participation in international organisations, friendship, peace, defence, the rectification of borders or military affairs, as well as international agreements that address matters which are the exclusive responsibility of the Assembly, or which the Government deems fit to submit to the Assembly for consideration;
Proposing to the President of the Republic that important issues of national interest be submitted to referendum;
Authorising and confirming declarations of a state of siege or a state of emergency;
Authorising the President of the Republic to declare war or to make peace;
Pronouncing, as laid down by law, on such matters awaiting decision by European Union bodies as concern the sphere of its exclusive legislative responsibility;
Performing such other functions as this Constitution and the law may allocate to it.

Article 162. Responsibility to scrutinise

In the performance of its scrutiny functions the Assembly of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Scrutinising compliance with this Constitution and the laws and considering the actions of the Government and the Public Administration;
Considering the manner in which a declaration of a state of siege or a state of emergency has been applied;
Considering executive laws, save those made under the Government’s exclusive legislative responsibility, and considering the regional legislative decrees provided for in Article 227(1)b, both for the purpose of determining whether they should be amended or cease to be in force;
Receiving the accounts of the state and such other public bodies as the law shall lay down. Such accounts shall be submitted by 31 December of the following year, together with the opinion of the Audit Court and the other items needed to consider them;
Considering reports on the execution of National Plans.

Article 163. Responsibilities in relation to other bodies

In relation to other bodies the Assembly of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Witnessing the President of the Republic’s installation;
Consenting to the President of the Republic’s absence from Portuguese territory;
Promoting the bringing of proceedings against the President of the Republic for crimes committed in the performance of his functions, and deciding whether to suspend members of the Government in the case provided for in Article 196;
Considering the Government’s Programme;
Voting on motions of confidence or no confidence in the Government;
As laid down by law, supervising and considering Portugal’s participation in the process of constructing the European Union;
Under the proportional representation system, electing five members of the Council of State and those members of the Supreme Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office whom the Assembly is responsible for appointing;
By a majority that is at least equal to two thirds of all Members present and greater than an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office, electing ten judges to the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman, the President of the Economic and Social Council, seven members of the Supreme Judicial Council, the members of the media regulatory body and the members of all other constitutional bodies, appointments to which are the responsibility of the Assembly of the Republic by law;
As laid down by law, supervising the involvement of military contingents and security forces abroad.

Article 164. Exclusive responsibility to legislate

The Assembly of the Republic shall possess exclusive responsibility to legislate on the following matters:

Elections to bodies that exercise sovereign power;
Rules to be used in referenda;
The organisation, operation and proceedings of the Constitutional Court;
The organisation of national defence, the definition of the duties derived therefrom and the basic general elements of the organisation, operation, re-equipping and discipline of the Armed Forces;
Rules governing states of siege and states of emergency;
The acquisition, loss and re-acquisition of Portuguese citizenship;
The definition of the limits of territorial waters, the exclusive economic zone and Portugal’s rights to the adjacent seabed;
Political associations and parties;
The basic elements of the education system;
The election of members of the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
The election of local government officeholders and other elections conducted by direct, universal suffrage, as well as elections to the remaining constitutional bodies;
The status and role of the officeholders of bodies that exercise sovereign power and local government officeholders, as well as of the officeholders of the remaining constitutional bodies and of all those who are elected by direct, universal suffrage;
Without prejudice to the powers of the autonomous regions, the creation, abolition and modification of local authorities and the rules governing them;
Restrictions on the exercise of rights by full-time military and militarised personnel on active service and by members of the police forces and security services;
The rules governing the appointment of members of European Union bodies, with the exception of the Commission;
The rules governing the Republic’s intelligence system and state secrets;
The general rules governing the drawing up and organisation of the budgets of the state, the autonomous regions and local authorities;
The rules governing national symbols;
The rules governing the finances of the autonomous regions;
The rules governing the police forces and security services;
The rules governing the organisational, administrative and financial autonomy of the President of the Republic’s support services.

Article 165. Partially exclusive responsibility to legislate

Unless it also authorises the Government to do so, the Assembly of the Republic shall possess exclusive responsibility to legislate on the following matters:
1. People’s status and legal capacity;
2. Rights, freedoms and guarantees;
3. The definition of crimes, sentences, security measures and the preconditions therefore, and the laying down of criminal procedure;
4. The general rules for punishing disciplinary infractions, and those governing administrative offences and the applicable proceedings;
5. The general rules governing requisitions and expropriations in the public interest;
6. The basic elements of the social security system and the national health service;
7. The basic elements of the rules for protecting nature, the ecological balance and the cultural heritage;
8. The general rules governing rural and urban rentals;
9. The creation of taxes and the fiscal system, and the general rules governing duties and other financial payments to public bodies;
10. The definition of sectors of ownership of the means of production, including that of basic sectors in which private businesses and other bodies of a similar nature shall be forbidden to act;
11. The means and forms of intervention, expropriation, nationalisation and privatisation of and in relation to means of production and soils in the public interest, together with criteria for setting compensation in such cases;
12. The rules governing economic and social development plans and the composition of the Economic and Social Council;
13. The basic elements of the agricultural policy, including the setting of the maximum and minimum limits for farming units;
14. The monetary system and the standard for weights and measures;
15. The organisation and responsibilities of the courts and the Public Prosecutors’ Office and the status and role of the respective judges, as well as the organisation and responsibilities of non-judicial conflict settlement bodies;
16. The status and role of local authorities, including the rules governing local finances;
17. Participation in local government by residents’ organisations;
18. Public associations, guarantees available to users of the Public Administration, and the Public Administration’s civil liability;
19. The basic elements of the rules governing, and the scope of, the Public Administration;
20. The basic general elements of the status of public companies and public foundations;
21. The definition of, and the rules governing, property in the public domain;
22. The rules governing means of production that are integrated into the cooperative and social sector of ownership;
23. The basic elements of town and country and urban planning;
24. The rules governing municipal police forces and the form in which they are created.
Laws that grant authorisation to legislate shall define the object, purpose, extent and duration of such authorisation, which may be extended.
Without prejudice to their use in partial stages, authorisations to legislate shall not be used more than once.
Authorisations shall lapse upon the resignation or removal of the Government to which they were granted, at the end of the legislature, or upon the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic.
Authorisations granted to the Government by the Budget law shall comply with the provisions of this Article and, when they address fiscal matters, shall only lapse at the end of the fiscal year to which they refer.

Article 166. Form of acts

The acts provided for in Article 161a shall take the form of constitutional laws.
The acts provided for in Articles 164a to f, h, j, the first part of l, q and t and 255 shall take the form of organisational laws
The acts provided for in Article 161b to h shall take the form of laws.
The acts provided for in Article 163d and e shall take the form of motions.
The remaining acts of the Assembly of the Republic shall take the form of resolutions, as shall those of the Standing Committee provided for in Article 179(3)e and f.
Resolutions shall be published regardless of their enactment.

Article 167. Initiative in relation to legislation and referenda

The power to initiate legislation and referenda shall lie with Members, parliamentary groups and the Government, and also, subject to the terms and conditions laid down by law, with groups of registered electors. The power to initiate legislation in relation to the autonomous regions shall lie with the respective Legislative Assembly.
No Member, parliamentary group, Legislative Assembly of an autonomous region or group of registered electors shall submit bills or draft amendments which, during the then current financial year, involve an increase in the state’s expenditure or a decrease in its revenues as set out in the Budget.
No Member, parliamentary group or group of registered electors shall submit draft referenda which, during the then current financial year, involve an increase in the state’s expenditure or a decrease in its revenues as set out in the Budget.
Bills and draft referenda that are definitively rejected may not be resubmitted in the same legislative session, unless a new Assembly of the Republic is elected.
Bills and draft referenda that are not put to the vote in the legislative session in which they are submitted shall not require resubmission in the following legislative sessions, unless the legislature itself comes to an end.
Government bills and draft referenda shall lapse upon the resignation or removal of the Government.
Government bills that are initiated by Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions shall lapse at the end of the respective legislature, save in the event that their general principles have already been passed, in which case they shall only lapse upon the end of the legislature of the Assembly of the Republic.
Without prejudice to the bills and draft referenda to which they refer, unless they are withdrawn, parliamentary committees may submit replacement texts therefore.

Article 168. Discussion and voting

The discussion of bills shall comprise a debate on the general principles and another on the details.
Voting shall comprise a vote on the general principles, another on the details and a final overall vote.
In the event that the Assembly so decides, texts that are passed on the general principles shall be put to the vote on the details in committee, without prejudice to the Assembly’s power to mandate the Plenary to put the details to the vote, or to the final overall vote by the Plenary.
The details of laws on the matters provided for in Articles 164a to f, h, n and o and 165(1)q shall obligatorily be put to the vote by the Plenary.
When put to the overall final vote, organisational laws shall require passage by an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office. The same majority shall be required for passage of the details of provisions concerning the regions’ territorial borders, as provided for in Article 255.
Passage of the following shall require a majority that is at least equal to two thirds of all Members present and greater than an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office:
1. The law governing the media regulatory body;
2. The rules governing the provisions of Article 118(2);
3. The law that regulates the exercise of the right provided for in Article 121(2);
4. The provisions of the laws that regulate the matters referred to in Articles 148 and 149, and those concerning the system and method for electing the bodies provided for in Article 239(3);
5. The provisions that regulate the subject matter of Article 164o;
6. Those provisions of the political and administrative statutes of the autonomous regions that set out the matters which are covered by the autonomous regions’ power to legislate.

Article 169. Parliamentary consideration of legislation

Unless passed under the Government’s exclusive responsibility to legislate, upon a motion made by ten Members within thirty days of their publication, excluding periods in which the Assembly of the Republic’s proceedings are suspended, executive laws may be subjected to consideration by the Assembly of the Republic with a view to causing them to cease to be in force or amending them.
Once a motion to consider an executive law issued under the terms of an authorisation to legislate has been made and if one or more amendments are proposed, the Assembly may suspend the force of all or part of the executive law until either the law that amends it is published, or all the proposed amendments are rejected.
Such suspensions shall expire after ten plenary sittings, if the Assembly has not pronounced itself by then.
In the event that the executive law is to cease to be in force, it shall so cease on the day on which the respective resolution is published in the Diário da República, whereupon the executive law in question shall not be republished during the same legislative session.
In the event that a motion to consider has been made and the Assembly has not pronounced on the result of such consideration, or in the event that the Assembly has decided to make amendments, but has not put the respective law to the vote by the end of the then current legislative session, and on condition that at least fifteen plenary sessions have passed, the consideration process shall be deemed to have lapsed.
Proceedings concerning the consideration of executive laws shall enjoy priority under the terms of the Rules of Procedure.

Article 170. Emergency proceedings

Upon the initiative of any Member, or parliamentary group, or the Government, the Assembly of the Republic may declare any bill or draft resolution to be the object of emergency proceedings.
Upon the initiative of the Legislative Assembly of the autonomous region in question, the Assembly may also declare any regional government bill to be the object of emergency proceedings.

Chapter III. Organisation and proceedings

Article 171. Legislatures

Each legislature shall last for four legislative sessions.
In the event of the dissolution of the Assembly, the newly elected Assembly shall commence a new legislature, the duration of which shall be extended at the beginning by such time as is needed to complete the period that corresponds to the legislative session that was in progress at the date of the election.

Article 172. Dissolution

The Assembly of the Republic shall not be dissolved during the six months following its election, during the last six months of the President of the Republic’s term of office, or during a state of siege or a state of emergency.
Failure to comply with the provisions of the previous paragraph shall render the dissolution decree nugatory.
Dissolution of the Assembly shall not prejudice the continuation of its Members’ term of office, or the responsibilities of the Standing Committee, until the first sitting of the Assembly following the subsequent election.

Article 173. Sitting following elections

The Assembly of the Republic shall sit by right on the third day following the calculation of the general results of its election, or, in the case of elections called because a legislature is due to reach its term and the said third day falls before the said legislature reaches its term, on the first day of the following legislature.
In the event that such date falls when the Assembly is not in full session, it shall sit for the purposes of Article 175.

Article 174. Legislative sessions, full sessions and calling

Legislative sessions shall last for one year commencing on 15 September.
Without prejudice to suspensions decided by a two-thirds majority of all Members present, the Assembly of the Republic’s normal parliamentary term shall be from 15 September to 15 June.
Following a Plenary decision to extend the normal parliamentary term, or on the initiative of the Standing Committee, or, in the event that the said Committee is unable to function and there is a dire emergency, on the initiative of more than half of all the Members, the Assembly may conduct proceedings outside the term set out in the previous paragraph.
The President of the Republic may also call the Assembly on an extraordinary basis in order to address specific matters.
When the Assembly so decides under the same terms as those set out in (2) above, committees may conduct proceedings regardless of whether the Assembly’s Plenary is in full session.

Article 175. Internal responsibilities of the Assembly

The Assembly of the Republic shall be responsible for:

Drawing up its Rules of Procedure, as laid down by this Constitution;
Electing its President and the remaining members of the Bureau by absolute majority of all the members in full exercise of their office. The four Vice-Presidents shall be elected upon proposals from the four largest parliamentary groups;
Forming the Standing Committee and the remaining committees.

Article 176. Order of business of plenary sittings

The President of the Assembly of the Republic shall set the order of business in accordance with the priority set out in the Rules of Procedure and without prejudice to the right of appeal to the Assembly’s Plenary, or to the power provided to the President of the Republic under Article 174(4).
The Government and parliamentary groups may request that priority be given to matters of national interest that require urgent resolution.
Every parliamentary group shall possess the right to set the order of business of a certain number of sittings in accordance with criteria to be laid down by the Rules of Procedure, in which respect the position of minority parties and parties that are not represented in the Government shall always be safeguarded.
Legislative Assemblies of autonomous regions may request that priority be given to matters of regional interest that require urgent resolution.

Article 177. Attendance by members of the Government

Ministers shall possess the right to attend the Assembly of the Republic’s plenary sittings, at which they may be assisted or substituted by their Secretaries of State, and both shall possess the right to speak, all as laid down by the Rules of Procedure.
Sittings shall be scheduled at which members of the Government shall be present in order to respond to Members’ questions and requests for clarification. Such sittings shall take place at the minimum intervals laid down by the Rules of Procedure and on dates that shall be set by agreement with the Government.
Members of the Government may ask to participate in committee proceedings, and shall appear before committees when asked to do so.

Article 178. Committees

The Assembly of the Republic shall have such committees as may be provided for by the Rules of Procedure, and may form ad hoc committees of inquiry or for any other given purpose.
Committees shall be composed in proportion to the number of seats each party holds in the Assembly of the Republic.
Petitions addressed to the Assembly shall be considered by a committee or committees formed especially for the purpose, which may hear other committees with responsibility for the matter in question and in all cases may ask any citizen to testify.
Without prejudice to their formation in accordance with the normal provisions, and up to a limit of one per Member and per legislative session, parliamentary committees of inquiry shall obligatorily be formed when a motion is made to that effect by one fifth of all the Members in full exercise of their office.
Parliamentary committees of inquiry shall possess the investigative powers of the judicial authorities.
The chairmanships of the various committees shall be divided between the parliamentary groups in proportion to the number of each group’s Members.
Representatives of the Legislative Assembly of the autonomous region in question may participate in committee meetings at which regional legislative proposals are discussed, as laid down by the Rules of Procedure.

Article 179. Standing Committee

Outside periods in which the Assembly of the Republic is in full session, during periods in which it is dissolved, and in the remaining cases provided for by this Constitution, the Assembly of the Republic’s Standing Committee shall be in session.
The Standing Committee shall be chaired by the President of the Assembly of the Republic and shall also be composed of the Vice-Presidents and of Members nominated by each of the parties, each in proportion to the number of seats it holds in the Assembly.
The Standing Committee shall be responsible for:
1. Scrutinising compliance with this Constitution and the laws and monitoring the activities of the Government and the Public Administration;
2. Exercising the Assembly’s powers in relation to Members’ mandates;
3. Taking steps to call the Assembly whenever necessary;
4. Preparing the opening of legislative sessions;
5. Consenting to the President of the Republic’s absence from the country;
6. Authorising the President of the Republic to declare a state of siege or a state of emergency, to declare war or to make peace.
In the case provided for in subparagraph f) of the previous paragraph, the Standing Committee shall take steps to call the Assembly as soon as possible.

Article 180. Parliamentary groups

The Members elected for each party or coalition of parties may form a parliamentary group.
Each parliamentary group shall possess the following rights:
1. To take part in Assembly committees in proportion to the number of its Members, and to appoint its representatives on such committees;
2. To be consulted when the order of business is set, and to appeal to the Plenary against that order of business;
3. To cause the holding of emergency debates on issues of urgent current public interest, which the Government shall attend;
4. In each legislative session, to cause the holding of two debates on a matter of general or sectoral policy, by calling on the Government to attend the Assembly;
5. To ask the Standing Committee to take steps to convene the Plenary;
6. To move the formation of parliamentary committees of inquiry;
7. To initiate legislation;
8. To make motions rejecting the Government’s Programme;
9. To make motions of no confidence in the Government;
10. To be regularly and directly informed by the Government as to the situation and progress of the main matters of public interest.
Each parliamentary group shall possess the right to dispose of places in which to work at the Seat of the Assembly, together with technical and administrative staff of its choice, as laid down by law.
Members who do not belong to any parliamentary group shall be ensured certain minimum rights and guarantees, as laid down by the Rules of Procedure.

Article 181. Assembly staff and specialists

The Assembly and its committees shall be assisted in their work by a permanent body of technical and administrative staff, and by specialists on assignment or under temporary contracts. The number of such staff and specialists shall be the that which the President considers necessary.

Title IV. Government

Chapter I. Function and structure

Article 182. Definition

The Government shall be the body that conducts the country’s general policy and the supreme authority in the Public Administration.

Article 183. Composition

The Government shall be composed of the Prime Minister, Ministers and Secretaries and Under Secretaries of State.
The Government may include one or more Deputy Prime Ministers.
The number, name and responsibilities of the ministries and secretary-of-state’s offices and the means of coordination between them shall be laid down in each case by the decree appointing their officeholders, or by executive law.

Article 184. Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers shall be composed of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers if any, and the Ministers.
The law may create specialised Councils of Ministers with responsibility for specific matters.
Secretaries and Under Secretaries of State may be required to attend meetings of the Council of Ministers.

Article 185. Temporary substitution of members of the Government

In the event that there is no Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister shall be temporarily substituted during his absence or inability to perform his functions by such Minister as he may designate to the President of the Republic, or, in the absence of such designation, by the Minister designated by the President of the Republic.
During his absence or inability to perform his functions, each Minister shall be temporarily substituted by such Secretary of State as he may designate to the Prime Minister, or, in the absence of such designation, by the member of the Government designated by the Prime Minister.

Article 186. Taking and leaving office

The Prime Minister shall take office upon his installation and shall leave office when he is discharged by the President of the Republic.
The remaining members of the Government shall take office upon their installation and shall leave office when they or the Prime Minister are discharged.
Secretaries and Under Secretaries of State shall also leave office when their Minister is discharged.
In the event that the Government resigns or is removed, the Prime Minister of the outgoing Government shall be discharged on the date of the appointment and installation of the new Prime Minister.
Until its Programme has been considered by the Assembly of the Republic, and after its resignation or removal, the Government shall limit itself to undertaking such acts as are strictly necessary in order to ensure the management of public affairs.

Chapter II. Formation and responsibilities

Article 187. Formation

The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister after consulting the parties with seats in Assembly of the Republic and in the light of the electoral results.
The President of the Republic shall appoint the remaining members of the Government upon a proposal from the Prime Minister.

Article 188. The Government’s Programme

The Government’s Programme shall set out the main political guidelines and the measures that are to be adopted or proposed in the various areas of governance.

Article 189. Collective responsibility

Members of Government shall be bound by the Government’s Programme and by decisions taken by the Council of Ministers.

Article 190. Government responsibility

The Government shall be responsible to the President of the Republic and the Assembly of the Republic.

Article 191. Responsibility of members of the Government

The Prime Minister shall be responsible to the President of the Republic and, within the ambit of the Government’s political responsibility, to the Assembly of the Republic.
Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers shall be responsible to the Prime Minister and, within the ambit of the Government’s political responsibility, to the Assembly of the Republic.
Secretaries and Under Secretaries of State shall be responsible to the Prime Minister and their Minister.

Article 192. Consideration of the Government’s Programme

Within at most ten days of its appointment, the Government shall submit its Programme to the Assembly of the Republic for consideration, by means of a Prime Ministerial statement.
In the event that the Assembly of the Republic is not in full session, its President shall obligatorily call it for this purpose.
The debate shall not last for more than three days, and until it is closed, any parliamentary group may make a motion rejecting the Programme, and the Government may request the passage of a confidence motion.
Rejection of the Government’s Programme shall require an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office.

Article 193. Request for confidence motion

The Government may ask the Assembly of the Republic to pass a motion of confidence in relation to a statement of general policy or any important matter of national interest.

Article 194. No confidence motions

Upon the initiative of one quarter of all the Members in full exercise of their office or of any parliamentary group, the Assembly of the Republic may subject the Government to no confidence motions in relation to the implementation of its Programme or to any important matter of national interest.
No confidence motions shall only be considered forty-eight hours after they are made, and the debate thereon shall last for no more than three days.
If a no confidence motion is not passed, its signatories may not make another such motion during the same legislative session.

Article 195. Resignation or removal of the Government

The Government shall resign upon:
1. The beginning of a new legislature;
2. Acceptance by the President of the Republic of the Prime Minister’s resignation;
3. The Prime Minister’s death or lasting physical incapacitation;
4. Rejection of the Government’s Programme;
5. The failure of any confidence motion;
6. Passage of a no confidence motion by an absolute majority of all the Members in full exercise of their office.
The President of the Republic may only remove the Government when it becomes necessary to do so in order to ensure the normal functioning of the democratic institutions and after first consulting the Council of State.

Article 196. Lifting immunity from criminal prosecution from members of the Government

No member of the Government shall be detained, arrested or imprisoned without the authorisation of the Assembly of the Republic, save for a serious crime punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of more than three years and in flagrante delicto.
In the event that criminal proceedings are brought against any member of the Government and he is definitively charged, the Assembly of the Republic shall decide whether or not the member of the Government shall be suspended so that the proceedings can take their course. In the case of a crime of the type referred to in the previous paragraph, the Assembly shall obligatorily suspend him.

Chapter III. Responsibilities

Article 197. Political responsibilities

In the exercise of its political functions the Government shall be responsible for:
1. In accordance with Article 140, counter-signing acts of the President of the Republic;
2. Negotiating and finalising international agreements;
3. Passing international agreements that do not require passage by, or have not been submitted to, the Assembly of the Republic;
4. Presenting and submitting government bills and draft resolutions to the Assembly of the Republic;
5. In accordance with Article 115, proposing to the President of the Republic that important matters of national interest be subjected to referendum;
6. Giving its opinion on declarations of a state of siege or a state of emergency;
7. Proposing to the President of the Republic that he declare war or make peace;
8. In accordance with Article 162d, submitting the accounts of the state and of such other public bodies as the law shall lay down, to the Assembly of the Republic;
9. For the purpose of Articles 161n and 163f and in good time, submitting information concerning the process of constructing the European Union to the Assembly of the Republic;
10. Undertaking such other acts as may be required of it by this Constitution or by law.
The Government shall pass international agreements by decree.

Article 198. Legislative responsibilities

In the exercise of its legislative functions the Government shall be responsible for:
1. Making executive laws on matters that are not the exclusive responsibility of the Assembly of the Republic;
2. Subject to authorisation by the Assembly of the Republic, making executive laws on matters that are the partially exclusive responsibility of the Assembly;
3. Making executive laws that develop the principles or the basic general elements of the legal rules contained in laws that limit themselves to the said principles or basic general elements.
The Government shall possess exclusive responsibility to legislate on matters that concern its own organisation and proceedings.
The executive laws provided for in (1)b and c above shall make express mention of the law granting authorisation to legislate, or the basic law, under which they are passed.

Article 199. Administrative responsibilities

In the exercise of its administrative functions the Government shall be responsible for:

Drawing up National Plans on the basis of the respective Major Options, and causing them to be implemented;
Causing the State Budget to be executed;
Making such regulations as are needed to ensure that laws are properly implemented;
Directing the state’s civil and military departments and services and all activities under its direct administration, superintending indirect administration, and exercising oversight over such indirect administration and over autonomous administration;
Undertaking all such acts as the law may require in relation to staff and agents of the state and of other public bodies corporate;
Defending the democratic rule of law;
Undertaking all such acts and making all such dispositions as may be needed to promote economic and social development and fulfil collective needs.

Article 200. Responsibilities of the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers shall be responsible for:
1. Defining the outlines of government policy and of the implementation thereof;
2. Deciding whether to ask the Assembly of the Republic to pass confidence motions;
3. Passing government bills and draft resolutions;
4. Passing executive laws, and passing international agreements that are not to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic;
5. Passing National Plans;
6. Passing Government acts that involve increases or reductions in public revenues or expenditure;
7. Deciding on such other matters that fall under the Government’s responsibility as may be entrusted to it by law or submitted to it by the Prime Minister or any Minister.
Specialised Councils of Ministers shall fulfil such responsibilities as may be required of them by law or delegated to them by the Council of Ministers.

Article 201. Responsibilities of members of the Government

The Prime Minister shall be responsible for:
1. Directing the Government’s general policy and coordinating and orienting the actions of all the Ministers;
2. Directing the work of the Government and its general relations with other state bodies;
3. Informing the President of the Republic about matters concerning the conduct of the country’s internal and external policy;
4. Performing such other functions as may be required of him by this Constitution and the law
Ministers shall be responsible for:
1. Implementing the policy that has been set for their Ministries;
2. Within the scope of their individual Ministries, ensuring general relations between the Government and other state bodies.
The Prime Minister and the Ministers with responsibility for the matter in question shall sign executive laws and decrees issued by the Government.

Title V. Courts

Chapter I. General principles

Article 202. Jurisdiction

The courts shall be the bodies that exercise sovereign power which possess the responsibility to administer justice in the name of the people.
In administering justice the courts shall ensure the defence of those citizens’ rights and interests that are protected by law, repress breaches of the democratic rule of law and rule on conflicts between interests, public and private.
In the performance of their functions the courts shall possess the right to the assistance of the other authorities.
The law may institutionalise non-judicial instruments and means of settling conflicts.

Article 203. Independence

The courts shall be independent and subject only to the law.

Article 204. Compliance with the Constitution

In matters that are brought to trial, the courts shall not apply rules that contravene the provisions of this Constitution or the principles enshrined therein.

Article 205. Court rulings

Court rulings that are not merely administrative in nature shall set out their grounds in the form laid down by law.
Court rulings shall be binding on all persons and bodies, public and private, and shall prevail over the decisions of all other authorities.
The law shall regulate the terms under which court rulings are implemented in relation to any authority, and shall lay down the penalties to be imposed on any person or body that is responsible for any failure to implement such rulings.

Article 206. Court hearings

Court hearings shall be public, save in the event that in order to safeguard personal dignity or public morals, or to ensure its own proper operation, the court in question rules otherwise in a written order setting out the grounds for its decision.

Article 207. Juries, public participation and experts

In such cases and with such composition as the law may lay down, and particularly when either the prosecution or the defence so request, a jury may participate in the trial of serious crimes, save those involving terrorism or highly organised crime.
The law may provide for the participation of lay magistrates in trials concerning labour-related matters, public health infractions, minor offences, the execution of sentences or other cases that justify special consideration of the social values that have been infringed.
The law may also provide for the participation of technically qualified assistants in the trial of certain matters.

Article 208. Legal representation

The law shall ensure that lawyers enjoy the immunities needed to exercise their mandates and shall regulate legal representation as an element that is essential to the administration of justice.

Chapter II. Organisation of the courts

Article 209. Categories of court

In addition to the Constitutional Court, there shall be the following categories of court:
1. The Supreme Court of Justice and the courts of law of first and second instance;
2. The Supreme Administrative Court and the remaining administrative and tax courts;
3. The Audit Court.
There may be maritime courts, arbitration tribunals and justices of the peace.
The law shall lay down the cases and forms in which the courts provided for in the previous paragraphs can separately or jointly be constituted as conflict-resolution tribunals.
Without prejudice to the provisions concerning courts martial, courts with the exclusive power to try certain categories of crime shall be prohibited.

Article 210. Supreme Court of Justice and other courts of law

Without prejudice to the specific responsibilities of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice shall be the senior body in the hierarchy of courts of law.
The judges of the Supreme Court of Justice shall elect its President.
As a general rule the courts of first instance shall be the district courts, the status of which shall be equivalent to that of those referred to in paragraph (2) of the following Article.
As a general rule the courts of second instance shall be the Courts of Appeal.
The Supreme Court of Justice shall serve as a court of instance in such cases as the law may lay down.

Article 211. Responsibilities and specialisation of courts of law

The courts of law shall be the general courts in civil and criminal matters and shall have jurisdiction over every area that is not allocated to other judicial bodies.
There may be courts of first instance that possess specific responsibilities or are specialised in the trial of certain matters.
The composition of courts of any instance that try crimes of a strictly military nature shall include one or more military judges, as laid down by law.
The Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Justice may operate in specialised sections.

Article 212. Administrative and tax courts

Without prejudice to the specific responsibilities of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court shall be the senior body in the hierarchy of administrative and tax courts.
The judges of the Supreme Administrative Court shall elect its President from among their number.
The administrative and tax courts shall try contested suits and appeals, the purpose of which is to settle disputes arising from administrative and fiscal legal relations.

Article 213. Courts martial

During states of war, courts martial with jurisdiction over crimes of a strictly military nature shall be formed.

Article 214. Audit Court

The Audit Court shall be the senior body with authority to scrutinise the legality of public expenditure and judge such accounts as the law may require to be submitted to it. It shall particularly be responsible for:
1. Issuing an opinion on the General State Accounts, including the social security accounts;
2. Issuing an opinion on the accounts of the Azores and Madeira Autonomous Regions;
3. Enforcing liability for financial infractions, as laid down by law;
4. Fulfilling such other responsibilities as the law may confer upon it.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 133m, the President of the Audit Court’s term of office shall be four years.
The Audit Court may operate in a decentralised manner, in regional sections, as laid down by law.
In the Azores and Madeira Autonomous Regions there shall be sections of the Audit Court with full responsibility for the matter in question in the respective region, as laid down by law.

Chapter III. Status of judges

Article 215. Judges of the courts of law

The judges of the courts of law shall form a single body and shall be governed by a single statute.
The law shall lay down the requirements and rules governing the recruitment of judges of the courts of law of first instance.
The prevailing criterion in the selection of judges of the courts of law of second instance shall be that of merit, to be determined by a competitive submission of curricula by judges of first instance.
Appointment to the Supreme Court of Justice shall be determined by a competitive submission of curricula by judges, public prosecutors and other meritorious members of the legal profession, as laid down by law.

Article 216. Guarantees and incompatibilities

Judges shall enjoy security of tenure and shall not be transferred, suspended, retired or removed from office except in the cases laid down by law.
Save the exceptions laid down by law, judges shall not be held personally liable for their rulings.
Serving judges shall not perform any other public or private function, save unremunerated teaching or legal research functions, as laid down by law.
Serving judges shall not be appointed to judicial functions unrelated to the work of the courts without the authorisation of the competent Supreme Council.
The law may lay down other incompatibilities with the exercise of the office of judge.

Article 217. Appointment, assignment, transfer and promotion of judges

The appointment, assignment, transfer and promotion of judges of the courts of law and the exercise of discipline over them shall be the responsibility of the Supreme Judicial Council, as laid down by law.
The appointment, assignment, transfer and promotion of judges of the administrative and tax courts and the exercise of discipline over them shall be the responsibility of the respective Supreme Council, as laid down by law.
Subject to the guarantees provided for by this Constitution, the law shall define the rules governing the assignment, transfer and promotion of judges of the remaining courts and the exercise of discipline over them, and shall determine the responsibility to do so.

Article 218. Supreme Judicial Council

The Supreme Judicial Council shall be chaired by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice and shall also be composed of the following members:
1. Two to be appointed by the President of the Republic;
2. Seven to be elected by the Assembly of the Republic;
3. Seven judges to be elected by their peers in accordance with the principle of proportional representation.
The rules governing guarantees enjoyed by judges shall apply to all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The law may provide for court officials to be members of the Supreme Judicial Council, in which case they shall be elected thereto by their peers. Such members shall only participate in the discussion and voting on matters concerning the assessment of the professional merit of, and the exercise of discipline over, court officials.

Chapter IV. Public Prosecutors’ Office

Article 219. Functions, status and role

The Public Prosecutors’ Office shall be responsible for representing the state and defending such interests as the law may lay down, and, subject to the provisions of the following paragraph and as laid down by law, for participating in the implementation of the criminal policy defined by the bodies that exercise sovereign power, conducting penal action in accordance with the principle of legality, and defending the democratic rule of law.
The Public Prosecutors’ Office shall possess its own statute and autonomy, as laid down by law.
The law shall create special forms of assistance to be provided to the Public Prosecutors’ Office in cases involving strictly military crimes.
The officials of the Public Prosecutors’ Office shall be accountable judicial officers, shall form part of and be subject to a hierarchy and shall not be transferred, suspended, retired or removed from office except in cases provided for by law.
The appointment, assignment, transfer and promotion of officials of the Public Prosecutors’ Office and the exercise of discipline over them shall be the responsibility of the Attorney General’s Office.

Article 220. Attorney General’s Office

The Attorney General’s Office shall be the senior body of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and shall possess the composition and responsibilities laid down by law.
The Attorney General’s Office shall be presided over by the Attorney General and shall contain the Supreme Council of the Public Prosecutors’ Office, which shall include members elected by the Assembly of the Republic and members whom the public prosecutors shall elect from among their number.
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 133m, the Attorney General’s term of office shall be six years.

Title VI. Constitutional Court

Article 221. Definition

The Constitutional Court shall be the court with specific responsibility for administering justice in matters of a legal and constitutional nature.

Article 222. Composition and status of judges

The Constitutional Court shall be composed of thirteen judges, ten of whom shall be appointed by the Assembly of the Republic and three co-opted by those ten.
Six of the judges who are appointed by the Assembly of the Republic or are co-opted shall obligatorily be chosen from among the judges of the remaining courts, and the others from among jurists.
The term of office of judge of the Constitutional Court shall be nine years and shall not be renewable.
The judges of the Constitutional Court shall elect its President.
Constitutional Court judges shall enjoy the same guarantees of independence, security of tenure, impartiality and absence of personal liability and shall be subject to the same incompatibilities as the judges of the other courts.
The law shall lay down the immunities and other rules governing the status of Constitutional Court judges.

Article 223. Responsibilities

The Constitutional Court shall assess cases of unconstitutionality and illegality in accordance with Articles 277 et sequitur.
The Constitutional Court shall also be responsible for:
1. Verifying the death and declaring the permanent physical incapacity of the President of the Republic, and verifying cases in which he is temporarily prevented from performing his functions;
2. Verifying forfeiture of the office of President of the Republic in the cases provided for in Articles 129(3) and 130(3);
3. Issuing rulings of final instance on the proper conduct and validity of electoral acts, as laid down by law;
4. For the purpose of Article 124(3), verifying the death and declaring the incapacity to exercise the office of President of the Republic of any candidate therefore;
5. Verifying the legality of the formation of political parties and coalitions thereof, assessing the legality of their names, initials and symbols, and ordering their abolition, all as laid down by this Constitution and the law;
6. Verifying in advance the constitutionality and legality of national, regional and local referenda, including assessment of requirements in relation to the electors in each case;
7. At the request of Members and as laid down by law, ruling on appeals concerning losses of seat and elections held by the Assembly of the Republic and the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
8. Ruling on such cases involving the impugnation of elections within, and the decisions taken by, political parties as by law are subject to appeal.
The Constitutional Court shall also perform such other functions as are conferred upon it by this Constitution and the law.

Article 224. Organisation and procedure

The law shall lay down the rules governing the Constitutional Court’s seat, manner of organisation and procedures.
Except for the purpose of the abstract assessment of constitutionality and legality, the law may require the Constitutional Court to operate in sections.
The law shall regulate appeals to the full Constitutional Court against contradictory rulings by different sections on the application of the same rule or provision.

Title VII. Autonomous Regions

Article 225. Political and administrative system in the Azores and Madeira

The specific political and administrative system applicable in the Azores and Madeira archipelagos shall be based on their geographic, economic, social and cultural characteristics and on the island populations’ historic aspirations to autonomy.
The autonomy of the regions is designed to ensure their citizens’ democratic participation, economic and social development and the promotion and defence of regional interests, as well as the strengthening of national unity and of the bonds of solidarity between all Portuguese.
Regional political and administrative autonomy shall not affect the integrity of the sovereignty of the state and shall be exercised within the overall framework of this Constitution.

Article 226. Statutes and electoral laws

Draft political and administrative statutes and government bills concerning the election of members of the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions shall be drawn up by the said Legislative Assemblies and sent to the Assembly of the Republic for discussion and passage or rejection.
If the Assembly of the Republic rejects or amends such a draft or bill, it shall return it to the respective Legislative Assembly for consideration and the issue of an opinion.
Once the opinion has been drawn up, the Assembly of the Republic shall put the draft or bill to final discussion and the vote.
The system provided for in the previous paragraphs shall apply to amendments to the political and administrative statutes and the laws governing the election of members of the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions.

Article 227. Powers of the autonomous regions

The autonomous regions shall be territorial bodies corporate and shall possess the following powers, which shall be defined in their statutes:
1. To legislate within the ambit of the region on such matters as are set out in the political and administrative statute of the region in question and are not the exclusive responsibility of bodies that exercise sovereign power;
2. Subject to authorisation by the Assembly of the Republic, to legislate on matters that fall within that Assembly’s partially exclusive responsibility to legislate, with the exception of the matters provided for in Article 165(1)a to c, the first part of subparagraph d, subparagraphs f and i, the second part of subparagraph m and subparagraphs o, p, q, s, t, v, x and aa;
3. Within the ambit of the region, to develop the principles or the basic general elements of the legal rules contained in laws that limit themselves to the said principles or basic general elements;
4. To regulate regional legislation and such laws issued by bodies that exercise sovereign power as do not reserve the power to regulate the laws themselves to the said bodies;
5. To initiate statutes and to initiate legislation concerning the election of members of the respective Legislative Assemblies pursuant to Article 226;
6. To initiate legislation in accordance with Article 167(1), by submitting regional government bills and draft amendments thereto to the Assembly of the Republic;
7. To exercise their own executive power;
8. To administer and dispose of their assets and to undertake such acts and enter into such contracts as may be in their interest;
9. To exercise their own power to tax as laid down by law, as well as to adapt the national fiscal system to the specificities of the region under the terms of framework laws passed by the Assembly of the Republic;
10. In accordance with their statutes and the law governing the finances of the autonomous regions, to dispose of such tax revenues as may be collected or generated in the autonomous region in question, as well as of a part of the state’s tax revenues, to be determined in accordance with a principle that ensures effective national solidarity, and of such other revenue as may be allocated to them, and to appropriate such revenues to their expenditure;
11. To create and abolish local authorities and modify the area thereof, as laid down by law;
12. To exercise the power of oversight over local authorities;
13. To raise rural settlements to the category of town or city;
14. To superintend departments and services, public institutes and public and nationalised companies that work or trade exclusively or predominantly in the region and in such other cases as are justified in the regional interest;
15. To pass the regional economic and social development plan, the regional budget and the region’s accounts and to take part in drawing up National Plans;
16. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 165(1)d, to define administrative offences and the penalties therefore;
17. To participate in the definition and implementation of fiscal, monetary, financial and exchange policy in such a way as to ensure regional control of the means of payment in circulation and the financing of the investments needed for the region’s economic and social development;
18. To participate in the definition of policies concerning territorial waters, the exclusive economic zone and the adjacent seabed;
19. To participate in the negotiation of international treaties and agreements that directly concern them and to share in the benefits derived therefrom;
20. To cooperate with foreign regional bodies and to participate in organisations the purpose of which is to foster inter-regional dialogue and cooperation, all in accordance with the guidelines set out by the bodies that exercise sovereign power and are responsible for foreign affairs;
21. On their own initiative, or when consulted by bodies that exercise sovereign power, to give their opinion on issues that fall under the latter’s responsibility and concern the autonomous regions, and in matters that concern their specific interests, on the definition of the Portuguese state’s positions within the ambit of the process of constructing the European Union;
22. To participate, when matters that concern them are at stake, in the process of constructing the European Union by means of their representation in European regional institutions and on delegations involved in European Union decision-making processes, as well as to transpose Union legislation and other legal acts in accordance with Article 112.
Regional government bills seeking authorisation to legislate shall be accompanied by the draft regional legislative decree for which authorisation is sought. The provisions of Article 165(2) and (3) shall apply to the corresponding laws granting authorisation to legislate.
The authorisations referred to in the previous paragraph shall lapse upon the end of the legislature or the dissolution of either the Assembly of the Republic, or the Legislative Assembly to which they were granted.
The regional legislative decrees provided for in (1)b and c above shall make express mention of the respective laws granting authorisation to legislate or the respective basic laws. The provisions of Article 169 shall apply to the former, mutatis mutandis.

Article 228. Legislative autonomy

The autonomous regions’ legislative autonomy shall apply to such matters set out in the respective political and administrative statute as are not the exclusive responsibility of bodies that exercise sovereign power.
In the absence of specific regional legislation on a matter that is not the exclusive responsibility of bodies that exercise sovereign power, the current provisions of the law shall apply to the autonomous regions.

Article 229. Cooperation between bodies that exercise sovereign power and regional bodies

In cooperation with the self-government bodies, the bodies that exercise sovereign power shall ensure the autonomous regions’ economic and social development, with a particular view to the correction of inequalities derived from the autonomous regions’ insular nature.
Bodies that exercise sovereign power shall always consult the regional self-government bodies in relation to such issues as fall within their own responsibilities and concern the autonomous regions.
The financial relations between the Republic and the autonomous regions shall be regulated by the law provided for in Article 164t.
The Government of the Republic and the Regional Governments may agree other forms of cooperation, particularly those involving acts entailing the delegation of responsibilities. The corresponding transfer of financial resources and the applicable financial scrutiny mechanisms shall be determined in each such case.

Article 230. Representatives of the Republic

For each of the autonomous regions there shall be a Representative of the Republic, whom the President of the Republic shall appoint and discharge from office after first consulting the Government.
Unless he is discharged from office, the Representative of the Republic’s term of office shall last for as long as that of the President of the Republic and shall end upon installation of a new Representative of the Republic.
In the event that the office falls vacant and in cases in which the Representative of the Republic is absent or prevented from performing his functions, he shall temporarily be substituted by the President of the Legislative Assembly.

Article 231. Self-government bodies of the autonomous regions

Each autonomous region shall have self-government bodies in the form of a Legislative Assembly and a Regional Government.
Legislative Assemblies shall be elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage in accordance with the principle of proportional representation.
Each Regional Government shall be politically responsible to the Legislative Assembly of its autonomous region, and the Representative of the Republic shall appoint its president in the light of the results of the regional elections.
The Representative of the Republic shall appoint and discharge the remaining members of the Regional Government upon the proposal of its president.
Each Regional Government shall take office before the Legislative Assembly of its autonomous region.
Each Regional Government shall possess exclusive responsibility for matters that concern its own organisation and proceedings.
The status and role of the officeholders of the self-government bodies of the autonomous regions shall be defined in the latter’s political and administrative statutes.

Article 232. Responsibilities of Legislative Assemblies of autonomous regions

The Legislative Assembly of each autonomous region shall possess exclusive responsibility for the exercise of the powers referred to in Article 227(1)a, b and c, the second part of subparagraph d, subparagraph f, the first part of subparagraph I and subparagraphs l, n and q, as well as to pass the regional budget, the region’s economic and social development plan and accounts, and to adapt the national fiscal system to the region’s specificities.
The Legislative Assembly of each autonomous region shall be responsible for submitting draft regional referenda by means of which the President of the Republic may call upon the citizens who are registered to vote in the region’s territory to pronounce in binding fashion on questions that are of important specific interest to the region. The provisions of Article 115 shall apply to such referenda, mutatis mutandis.
The Legislative Assembly of each autonomous region shall draft and pass its rules of procedure in accordance with this Constitution and its political and administrative statute.
The provisions of Articles 175c, 178(1) to (6), 179 except for (3)e and f and (4), and 180 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions and their parliamentary groups.

Article 233. Signature and veto of Representatives of the Republic

The Representative of the Republic shall be responsible for signing regional legislative decrees and regional regulatory decree and having them published.
Within fifteen days of reception of any decree of the Legislative Assembly of the autonomous region that is sent to him for signature, or of the publication of a Constitutional Court ruling that fails to declare any of its provisions unconstitutional, the Representative of the Republic shall either sign the decree, or exercise the right of veto. In the latter case, by means of a message setting out the grounds therefore, he shall request that the decree be reconsidered.
If the Legislative Assembly of the autonomous region confirms its original vote by an absolute majority of all its members in full exercise of their office, the Representative of the Republic shall sign the decree within eight days of receiving it.
Within twenty days of receipt of any decree of the Regional Government that is sent to him for signature, the Representative of the Republic shall either sign or refuse to sign it. In the event of refusal, he shall inform the Regional Government in writing of the reasons for the veto, whereupon the Regional Government may convert the decree into a bill for submission to the Legislative Assembly of the autonomous region.
The Representative of the Republic shall also exercise the right to veto pursuant to Articles 278 and 279.

Article 234. Dissolution and removal of self-government bodies

After first consulting the Council of State and the parties with seats in the Legislative Assembly in question, the President of the Republic may dissolve the Legislative Assembly of an autonomous region.
Dissolution of a Legislative Assembly of an autonomous region shall cause the removal of the Regional Government, whereupon and until such time as a new Regional Government takes office following elections, the Regional Government shall be limited to undertaking such acts as are strictly necessary in order to ensure the management of public affairs.
Dissolution of a Legislative Assembly of an autonomous region shall not prejudice the continuation of its members’ term of office, or the responsibilities of its Standing Committee, until the Assembly’s first sitting following the subsequent elections.

Title VIII. Local government

Chapter I. General principles

Article 235. Local authorities

The democratic organisational structure of the state shall include local authorities.
Local authorities shall be territorial bodies corporate, shall possess representative bodies and shall seek to pursue the interests of the local people.

Article 236. Categories of local authority and administrative division

On the mainland, local authorities shall comprise parishes, municipalities and administrative regions.
The Azores and Madeira autonomous regions shall comprise parishes and municipalities.
In large urban areas and on the islands the law may create other forms of local government organisation in accordance with the specific conditions prevailing therein or on.
The law shall lay down the manner in which Portuguese territory is to be divided for administrative purposes.

Article 237. Administrative decentralisation

The law shall regulate the responsibilities and organisation of local authorities and the responsibilities of their bodies in accordance with the principle of administrative decentralisation.
Each local authority assembly shall be responsible for exercising the powers conferred upon it by law, including the power to pass the options of its plan and budget.
Municipal police forces shall cooperate in maintaining public order and protecting local communities.

Article 238. Local assets and finances

Local authorities shall possess their own assets and finances.
The law shall lay down the rules governing local finances and shall seek to ensure that public resources are justly shared between the state and the local authorities, and the necessary correction in inequalities between local authorities of the same category.
Each local authority’s income shall obligatorily include that derived from the management of its assets and that charged for the use of its services.
Local authorities may possess the power of taxation in such cases and under such terms as may be laid down by law.

Article 239. Decision-making and executive bodies

The organisational structures of local authorities shall comprise an elected assembly with decision-making powers, and a collegiate executive body that shall be answerable to the assembly.
Assemblies shall be elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage of the citizens who are registered to vote in the area of the local authority in question, in accordance with the proportional representation system.
The collegiate executive body shall be composed of an adequate number of members. The first candidate on the list that receives the most votes cast shall be appointed president of the assembly or executive, depending on and in accordance with the solution adopted by law. The law shall also regulate the electoral process, the requirements governing the formation and removal of the assembly and the collegiate executive body, and their proceedings and operation.
Nominations for election to local authority bodies may be submitted by political parties, either individually or in coalition, or by groups of registered electors, all as laid down by law.

Article 240. Local referenda

In such cases, under such terms and with such effect as the law may lay down, local authorities may submit matters that are included within the responsibilities of the local authority bodies to referendum by those of their citizens who are registered to vote.
The law may grant the right to initiate referenda to registered electors.

Article 241. Regulatory power

Within the limits laid down by this Constitution and the laws and regulations issued by a higher category of local authority, or by an authority with oversight over the local authority in question, local authorities shall possess their own regulatory power.

Article 242. Administrative oversight

Administrative oversight of local authorities shall consist of the verification of the local authority bodies’ compliance with the law and shall be exercised in such cases and in accordance with such forms as the law may lay down.
Oversight measures that restrict local autonomy shall be preceded by an opinion from a local authority body and shall be governed by law.
Local authority bodies may only be dissolved for serious illegal acts or omissions.

Article 243. Local authority staff

Local authorities shall possess their own staff, as laid down by law.
The rules governing state staff and agents shall apply to local government staff and agents, as laid down by law, mutatis mutandis.
Without prejudice to the autonomy of the local authorities, the law shall define the forms in which the state shall provide such authorities with support in the form of technical and human resources.

Chapter II. Parishes

Article 244. Parish bodies

A parish’s representative bodies shall be the parish assembly and the parish authority.

Article 245. Parish assemblies

The parish assembly shall be its parish’s decision-making body.
The law may require that the parish assembly in parishes with very small populations be replaced by the plenary meeting of registered electors.

Article 246. Parish authorities

The parish authority shall be its parish’s collegiate executive body.

Article 247. Associations

Parishes may form associations to administer common interests, as laid down by law.

Article 248. Delegation of tasks

Parish assemblies may delegate administrative tasks that do not entail the exercise of powers of authority to residents’ organisations.

Chapter III. Municipalities

Article 249. Changes to municipalities

Municipalities shall be created and abolished and their area shall be altered by means of laws, following prior consultation of the bodies of the local authorities in question.

Article 250. Municipal bodies

A municipality’s representative bodies shall be the municipal assembly and the municipal authority.

Article 251. Municipal assemblies

The municipal assembly shall be its municipality’s decision-making body and shall be composed of directly elected members and the presidents of the municipality’s parish authorities. The number of directly elected members shall be greater than that of the presidents of the parish authorities.

Article 252. Municipal authorities

The municipal authority shall be its municipality’s collegiate executive body.

Article 253. Associations and federations

In order to administer common interests, municipalities may form associations and federations, on which the law may confer specific powers and responsibilities.

Article 254. Share in revenue from direct taxes

Municipalities shall share in the revenue from direct taxes by right and as laid down by law.
Municipalities shall possess their own tax revenues, as laid down by law.

Chapter IV. Administrative regions

Article 255. Creation by law

The administrative regions shall be created simultaneously by means of a law, which shall define their powers and the composition, responsibilities and proceedings of their bodies and may lay down differences between the rules applicable to each administrative region.

Article 256. De facto institution

The de facto institution of the administrative regions by means of the individual laws instituting each one shall depend on the law provided for in the previous Article, and on the casting of an affirmative vote by the majority of the registered electors who cast their votes in a direct national ballot covering each of the regional areas.
In the event that the majority of the registered electors who cast their votes do not respond in the affirmative to a question with a national scope on the de facto institution of the administrative regions, the answers to such questions as may be put in relation to each region that is created by the law shall not take effect.
The consultation of registered electors provided for in the previous paragraphs shall take place in accordance with the provisions of an organisational law and by decision of the President of the Republic, upon a proposal from the Assembly of the Republic. The system derived from Article 115 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 257. Responsibilities

Administrative regions shall particularly be charged with the direction of public departments and services and with tasks involving the coordination and provision of support for the work of the municipalities, while respecting the municipalities’ autonomy and without imposing limits on their powers.

Article 258. Planning

Administrative regions shall draw up regional plans and shall take part in the drawing up of national plans.

Article 259. Regional bodies

The regional assembly and the regional authority shall be an administrative region’s representative bodies.

Article 260. Regional assemblies

The regional assembly shall be its region’s decision-making body. It shall be composed of directly elected members, and by a smaller number of members who shall be elected in accordance with the proportional representation system and using d’Hondt’s highest-average rule, by an electoral college formed by those members of the same area’s municipal assemblies who were appointed by direct election.

Article 261. Regional authorities

The regional authority shall be its region’s collegiate executive body.

Article 262. Government representatives

The Council of Ministers may appoint a Government representative to each region. The responsibilities of such representatives shall also extend to the local authorities in their area.

Chapter V. Residents’ organisations

Article 263. Formation and area

In order to intensify local people’s participation in local administrative life, residents’ organisations may be formed within areas smaller than that of their parish.
Upon its own initiative, or at the request of one or more residents’ committees or a significant number of residents, the local parish authority shall delimit the geographic area of the organisations referred to in the previous paragraph and shall resolve any conflicts that arise from such delimitation.

Article 264. Structure

The law shall lay down the structure of residents’ organisations, which shall include a residents’ assembly and a residents’ committee.
Residents’ assemblies shall be composed of the residents registered during the parish census.
Each residents’ assembly shall elect a residents’ committee, which it shall also be free to dismiss.

Article 265. Rights and responsibilities

Residents’ organisations shall possess the right:
1. To petition local authorities in relation to administrative matters that are of interest to the residents;
2. Via their representatives, to participate without vote in the parish assembly.
Residents’ organisations shall be responsible for performing such tasks as the law or their parish bodies may delegate to them.

Title IX. Public Administration

Article 266. Fundamental principles

The Public Administration shall seek to pursue the public interest and shall respect all such citizens’ rights and interests as are protected by law.
Administrative bodies and agents shall be subject to this Constitution, and in the performance of their functions shall act with respect for the principles of equality, proportionality, justice, impartiality and good faith.

Article 267. Structure of the Administration

The Public Administration shall be structured in such a way as to avoid bureaucratisation, bring departments and services closer to local people and ensure that interested parties take part in its effective management, particularly via public associations, residents’ organisations and other forms of democratic representation.
For the purpose of the previous paragraph and without prejudice to the necessary efficacy and unity of the Public Administration’s work and the management, superintendence and oversight of the competent bodies, the law shall lay down adequate forms of administrative decentralisation and devolution.
The law may create independent administrative bodies.
Public associations may only be formed in order to fulfil specific needs, may not perform the specific functions of trade unions and shall be organised internally on the basis of respect for their members’ rights and the democratic formation of their bodies.
The processing of administrative activities shall be the object of a special law, which shall ensure that the resources to be used by departments and services are rationalised, and that citizens participate in the taking of decisions that concern them.
Private bodies that exercise public powers may be subject to administrative inspection as laid down by law.

Article 268. Citizens’ rights and guarantees

Citizens shall possess the right to be informed by the Administration whenever they so request as to the progress of the processes in which they are directly interested, as well as to be made aware of such decisions as are taken in relation to them.
Without prejudice to the law governing matters of internal and external security, criminal investigation and personal privacy, citizens shall also possess the right of access to administrative files and records.
Administrative acts shall be subject to notification to the interested parties in the form laid down by law, and when they affect rights or interests that are protected by law, shall be based on express grounds that can be accessed by the parties.
Citizens shall be guaranteed effective judicial oversight of those of their rights and interests that are protected by law, particularly including the recognition of the said rights and interests, the impugnation of any administrative act that harms their rights and interests, regardless of its form, the issue of positive rulings requiring the practise of administrative acts that are due by law, and the issue of adequate injunctions.
Citizens shall also possess the right to challenge administrative rules which possess external force and which harm any of their rights or interests that are protected by law.
For the purposes of (1) and (2) above the law shall lay down a maximum time limit for responses by the Administration.

Article 269. Rules governing Public Administration staff

In the performance of their functions, Public Administration workers and other agents of the state and of other public bodies shall exclusively serve the public interest, as defined in accordance with the law by the Administration’s competent governing bodies.
Public Administration workers and other agents of the state and of other public bodies shall not be prejudiced or benefited as a result of their exercise of any political rights provided for in this Constitution, particularly party political preferences.
Persons who are the object of disciplinary proceedings shall be guaranteed the right to be heard and to a defence.
Public positions and offices shall not be accumulated, save in such cases as are expressly permitted by law.
The law shall lay down the incompatibilities between the holding of public positions or offices and other activities.

Article 270. Restrictions on the exercise of rights

Strictly to the extent required by the specific demands of the functions in question, the law may impose restrictions on the exercise of the rights of expression, meeting, demonstration, association and collective petition and the right to stand for election by full-time military and militarised personnel on active service, and by members of the police forces and security services. In the case of the latter, even when their right to form trade unions is recognised, the law may preclude enjoyment of the right to strike.

Article 271. Liability of state staff and agents

The staff and agents of the state and of other public bodies shall be civilly and criminally liable and subject to disciplinary proceedings for their actions and omissions in the performance of their functions, and for any such performance that leads to a breach of those citizens’ rights and interests that are protected by law. At no stage shall any suit or proceedings in this respect be dependent on authorisation by higher authority.
Liability shall not accrue to any member of staff or agent who acts in the performance of his duties in compliance with orders or instructions issued by a legitimate hierarchical superior, on condition that he previously protested against the said orders or instructions or required them to be transmitted or confirmed in writing.
The duty of obedience shall cease whenever compliance with orders or instructions would imply the commission of any crime.
The law shall regulate the terms under which the state and other public entities shall be entitled to indemnification by their bodies, staff and agents.

Article 272. Police

The functions of police forces shall be to defend the democratic rule of law and to guarantee citizens’ internal security and rights.
The measures to be used for policing purposes shall be those laid down by law and shall not be used more than is strictly necessary.
Crime prevention, including that of crimes against state security, shall only be undertaken in compliance with the general rules governing policing and with respect for citizens’ rights, freedoms and guarantees.
The law shall lay down the rules governing police forces and each such force shall possess a sole organisational structure for the whole of Portuguese territory.

Title X. National defence

Article 273. National defence

The state shall be under an obligation to ensure the defence of the nation.
The objectives of national defence shall be to guarantee national independence, territorial integrity and the freedom and security of the population from any external aggression or threat, while respecting the constitutional order, the democratic institutions and international agreements.

Article 274. Supreme National Defence Council

The Supreme National Defence Council shall be chaired by the President of the Republic and shall be composed as laid down by law. The said composition shall include members elected by the Assembly of the Republic.
The Supreme National Defence Council shall be the specific consultative body for matters concerning national defence and the organisation, operation and discipline of the Armed Forces. It may possess such administrative responsibilities as the law may confer upon it.

Article 275. Armed Forces

The Armed Forces shall charged with ensuring the military defence of the Republic.
The Armed Forces shall be composed exclusively of Portuguese citizens and shall possess a single organisational structure for the whole of Portuguese territory.
The Armed Forces shall obey the competent bodies that exercise sovereign power, as laid down by this Constitution and the law.
The Armed Forces shall serve the Portuguese people and shall be rigorously nonpartisan. Their personnel shall not take advantage of their weapons, their positions or their functions to intervene in political matters in any way.
As laid down by law, the Armed Forces shall be charged with fulfilling the Portuguese state’s commitments in the military field and taking part in humanitarian and peace missions undertaken by international organisations to which Portugal belongs.
As laid down by law, the Armed Forces may be charged with cooperating in civil protection missions, tasks concerning the satisfaction of basic needs and the improvement of people’s quality of life, and technical and military actions under the aegis of the national cooperation policy.
The laws that regulate the state of siege and the state of emergency shall lay down the terms governing the use of the Armed Forces in such situations.

Article 276. Defence of the nation, military service and civic service

Every Portuguese person shall possess the fundamental right and duty to defend the nation.
The law shall regulate military service and shall lay down the forms, voluntary or compulsory nature, duration and content of the performance thereof.
Citizens who by law are subject to the performance of military service and are considered unfit for armed military service shall perform such unarmed military service or civic service as may be appropriate to their situation.
Conscientious objectors who by law are subject to the performance of military service shall perform civic service with the same duration and degree of arduousness as armed military service.
Civic service may be laid down as a replacement for or complement to military service and the law may make it compulsory for citizens who are not subject to military duties.
No citizen who fails or ceases to perform compulsory military or civic service duties shall retain or secure employment with the state or any other public body.
No citizen shall be prejudiced in relation to any assignment, social benefits or permanent employment as the result of his performance of military service or compulsory civic service.