Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (1976, as amended 2005) (excerpts related to fair trial (right to a)) (English)

CONSTITUTION OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC

SEVENTH REVISION [2005]

 

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Article 32

(Safeguards in criminal proceedings)

1. Criminal proceedings shall ensure all necessary safeguards for the defence, including the right to appeal.

2. Every defendant shall be presumed innocent until his sentence has transited in rem judicatam, and shall be brought to trial as quickly as is compatible with the safeguards of the defence.

3. Defendants shall possess the right to choose counsel and to be assisted by him in relation to every procedural act. The law shall specify those cases and phases of proceedings in which the assistance of a lawyer shall be mandatory.

4. Preliminary investigations shall be conducted entirely under the responsibility of a judge, who may, subject to the terms of the law, delegate the practise of such investigative acts as do not directly concern fundamental rights to other persons or bodies.

5. Criminal proceedings shall posses an accusatorial structure, and trial hearings and such preliminary investigative acts as the law may require shall be subject to the principle of pleading and counter-pleading.

6. The law shall define the cases in which, subject to the safeguarding of the rights of the defence, the presence of the defendant or the accused at procedural acts, including trial hearings, may be dispensed with.

7. Victims shall possess the right to take part in proceedings, as laid down by law.

8. All evidence obtained by torture, coercion, infringement of personal physical or moral integrity, improper intromission into personal life, the home, correspondence or telecommunications shall be deemed null and void.

9. No case shall be withdrawn from a court that already had jurisdiction under an earlier law.

10. Defendants in proceedings concerning administrative offences or in any proceedings in which penalties may be imposed shall possess the right to be heard and to a defence.

Article 33

(Deportation, extradition and right of asylum)

1. Portuguese citizens shall not be deported from Portuguese territory.

2. Deportation of anyone who properly entered or is properly present in Portuguese territory, has been granted a residence permit, or has submitted a request for asylum that has not been refused may only be ordered by a judicial authority. The law shall ensure expedite forms of  ruling in such cases.

3. The extradition of Portuguese citizens from Portuguese territory shall only be permissible where an international agreement has established reciprocal extradition arrangements, or in cases of terrorism or international organised crime, and on condition that the applicant state’s legal system enshrines guarantees of a just and fair trial.

4. Extradition for crimes that are punishable under the applicant state’s law by a sentence or security measure which deprives or restricts freedom in perpetuity or for an undefined duration, shall only be permissible in the event that the applicant state is a party to an international agreement in this domain to which Portugal is bound, and offers guarantees that such a sentence or security measure will not be applied or executed.

5. The provisions of the previous paragraphs shall not prejudice the application of such rules governing judicial cooperation in the criminal field as may be laid down under the aegis of the European Union.

6. No one shall be extradited or handed over under any circumstances for political reasons, or for crimes which are punishable under the applicant state’s law by death or by any other sentence that results in irreversible damage to a person’s physical integrity.

7. Extradition shall only be ordered by a judicial authority.

8. The right of asylum shall be guaranteed to foreigners and stateless persons who are the object, or are under grave threat, of persecution as a result of their activities in favour of democracy, social and national liberation, peace among peoples, freedom or rights of the human person.

9. The law shall define the status of political refugee.

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