COVID 19 – Measures taken by Portuguese Government

Dear all,

Due to the declared pandemic situation and the speed at which the information has been circulating, here are some useful information, gathered from the official page of the Ministry of Justice, updated on 03/16/2020, about public services in Portugal under the tutelage of the Ministry of Justice, also available at the following address: https://justica.gov.pt/COVID-19-Medidas-adotadas-na-Justica

COVID-19: Approved Measures

Each of the agencies adopted their own contingency plans before the epidemic scenario created by the new coronavirus.

Institute of Registries and Notary – IRN

– Documents that expire after March 9^th will remain valid until June 30^th;

Documents whose validity ends on March 9 will remain valid until June 30 and will be accepted for all legal purposes.

This measure applies to:

Citizen Card

Driving license

Certificates

– face-to-face attendance at registration services is suspended for a period of 14 days, except for urgent acts.

During this period, access to the face-to-face service will be made only by pre-booking and restricted to services considered urgent:

Civil and urgent marriages (imminent death or childbirth)

Urgent wills (on the verge of death)

Lawyers, notaries and solicitors can request various acts of registration online.

Courts – DGAJ

The DGAJ has defined a set of guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with the objective of protecting the people who exercise functions in the Judicial Courts of the whole country, as well as the citizens and legal representatives that move there.

– The only procedural steps that will take place are those that have an absolutely compelling reason or those that cannot be dealt with by telephone or computer.

– The criminal record certificate can be obtained online and without going to court;

We will keep you informed about any and all developments that are relevant.