Portugal
Courts in Portugal
The judicial courts up to the Supreme Court of Justice, a separate Supreme Administrative Court, a Constitutional Court, and a Court of Auditors — four top courts.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Article 209 of the Constitution fixes the categories of courts. The judicial courts hear civil and criminal cases: district courts (tribunais de comarca), courts of appeal (tribunais da relação), and at the apex the Supreme Court of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de Justiça). Separately, the administrative and tax courts culminate in the Supreme Administrative Court (Supremo Tribunal Administrativo), and there is a Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas) for public finances.
The same idea, explained generally
- What do courts do?
Courts resolve disputes, test the state’s case against individuals, interpret law, and review public decisions. This guide explains those functions and why judicial independence is structural.
- What is due process?
Due process is the requirement that the state follow fair, established procedures before it takes action against a person. This guide explains what it typically includes and how it differs between systems.
Sources
Sources
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (1976, 7th revision 2005) — official English translation
Assembleia da República (Parliament of Portugal) · Legislation · 1976 · link verified 2026-07-26
The Assembly of the Republic's official English translation of the Constitution (seventh revision, Constitutional Law 1/2005), fetched as a PDF and text-extracted, confirmed verbatim in both passes (the Portuguese text was also fetched). Supports Art. 6 ("the state is unitary"; the Azores and Madeira as autonomous regions), Art. 23 (the Ombudsman / Provedor de Justiça), Art. 164(u) and 165(1)(c)+(p) (the security-forces regime, criminal law, and the organisation of the courts and the Public Prosecution Service reserved to Parliament — and, via Art. 227(1)(b), excluded from regional legislation), Art. 202–204 (the courts as organs of sovereignty, independent, with diffuse constitutional review), Art. 209 (the categories of courts: Supreme Court of Justice, Supreme Administrative Court, Court of Auditors), Art. 217–218 (the High Council for the Judiciary), Art. 219–220 (the Public Prosecution Service — "its own statute and autonomy" — and the Prosecutor General's Office), Art. 221–222 (the Constitutional Court, thirteen judges), and Art. 272(4) ("each such force shall have a sole organisational structure for the whole of Portuguese territory").
National justice systems — Portugal (European e-Justice Portal)
European Commission (European e-Justice Portal) · International organisation · link verified 2026-07-26
The European Commission's e-Justice portal page on Portugal, read directly. Supports the court hierarchy — the Supreme Court of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de Justiça) at the apex of the judicial courts, the courts of appeal (tribunais da relação) and the district courts (tribunais de comarca), with a separate Constitutional Court, a separate Supreme Administrative Court, and the Court of Auditors. It is cited for the court hierarchy only; the autonomy of the Public Prosecution Service is anchored to Constitution Art. 219, not to this page.