decreto da Assembleia da República
Published 4 November 2026, 18:37
decreto da Assembleia da República (text passed by parliament, before the President signs it)
A text that parliament has passed in the final vote but that is not yet law: it is sent to the President to promulgate, that is, to sign into law. Until it is signed, the rules do not apply, and the law does not yet appear in the Diário da República.
Where you come across it. News about laws that have been "passed but not yet signed": the migration law, tax changes.
The President has 20 days from receiving the text (or, if they have asked the Constitutional Court to review it, from publication of the court's ruling) to sign it or veto it with a reasoned message. Parliament can confirm the text by an absolute majority, and the President must then sign it within eight days; for organic laws and certain subjects (foreign relations, the boundaries between the public and private sectors, electoral rules) a two-thirds majority is needed. The procedure for the government is different: the President has 40 days for its decree-laws.
Official website: parlamento.pt/Legislacao/Paginas/ConstituicaoRepublicaPortuguesa.aspx