Law of Portugal
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The Portuguese legal system is a civil law or continental legal system, based on Roman law. It is similar to other civil law legal systems found in other European countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
The Portuguese variant of civil law legal systems is used in various countries and territories around the world, including:
- Portugal (Portuguese Republic)
- Macau (Macao Special Administrative Region the People's Republic of China)
- Goa - now part of India
- Cape Verde (Republic of Cape Verde)
- Mozambique (Republic of Mozambique)
- Brazil (Federative Republic of Brazil) (to a lesser extent)
[edit] History
Prior to the approval of the current Civil Code in 1966, Portugal had an ancient legal system based on Roman law:
- Codigo Afonsino or Aƒonsinas 1446 (formally 1454 by Pedro, Duke of Coimbra)- local customary laws
- Codigo Manuelino or Manuelinas 1512-1520 - under Manuel I; modified in 1526, 1533, 1580
- Philipinas 1603
During Spanish rule, some Spanish laws were incorporated into the ancient Civil Code.
The first modern Civil Code came into effect in 1867; it is still in force in Goa. The second and current Civil Code was enacted in 1966; it is still in force in various former colonies, but not in Macau, where it was superseded by the 1999 Macau Civil Code, which effectively amounts to a revision of the 1966 Code, prepared under the influence of Portuguese jurists, especially from the Faculty of Law of Coimbra.
