Courts in Portugal: where to go, how long to wait and what to pay for

Work out the type of dispute and the right body

Ordinary contract and property disputes are heard by the Tribunal Judicial (court of general jurisdiction). Employment cases go to the Juízo do Trabalho (employment division), and disputes with public bodies to the Tribunal Administrativo e Fiscal (administrative and tax court). A criminal complaint is first made to the PSP (police), GNR (gendarmerie), Polícia Judiciária (criminal investigation police) or Ministério Público (public prosecutor's office).

For tenancies, the route depends on what you are claiming. Return of a deposit, a debt, repairs or compensation can be claimed in the ordinary courts or, if the value and subject of the claim fit, at a Julgado de Paz (justice of the peace court). Eviction and special recovery under a tenancy agreement go through the Balcão do Arrendatário e do Senhorio, BAS (tenant and landlord dispute service), not through a Julgado de Paz.

A dispute with an employer does not belong at a Julgado de Paz: go to the Juízo do Trabalho. Before going to court you can complain to the Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, ACT (labour inspectorate), but the ACT is no substitute for a claim for reinstatement or for money owed. In a dispute with an insurer, first send a formal complaint to the insurer; after that, CIMPAS (insurance dispute mediation and arbitration centre), consumer arbitration or the courts are open to you.

“⚡️🚨 GNR operation in Palmela: four arrested, an arsenal of weapons and €75,000 in cash In the Poceirão e Marateca area (Palmela municipality) the GNR carried out a search and arrested four men aged 30 to 33. They are suspected of car theft, aiding drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation. On Saturday the detainees were brought before the Tribunal Judicial de Setúbal. The court remanded them in custody.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

portugalpages05.05.2026

Check whether a Julgado de Paz is right for your case

A Julgado de Paz (justice of the peace court) hears civil disputes listed in the law worth up to €15,000. These can include debts, breach of contract, damage, disputes between neighbours and some urban tenancy disputes. It does not hear employment, family or inheritance cases, or tenant evictions.

These courts do not exist in every municipality. Which one handles your case depends on the defendant's address, where the property is or where the contract is performed. Find the right Julgado de Paz on Justiça.gov.pt and check its territorial jurisdiction in advance.

The parties are offered Mediação (mediation), but it is voluntary. If no agreement is reached, the case goes to a judge. A Julgado de Paz decision carries the same weight as a first-instance court judgment; whether you can appeal depends on the value of the case and the general rules on appeals.

Put your claim in writing and gather evidence

Before going to court, tell the other party in writing what you want, on what grounds and by what date you expect them to act. Send the letter in a way that proves delivery: carta registada com aviso de receção (registered letter with proof of receipt), an official email address or a channel set out in the contract.

Keep contracts, invoices, bank statements, photos, correspondence, official reports, medical documents and witnesses' contact details. For an employment dispute, take your contrato de trabalho (employment contract), recibos de vencimento (payslips), records from Segurança Social (social security), disciplinary documents and the dismissal letter. For an insurance dispute, take the policy, the participação de sinistro (claim notification), expert reports and the written refusal.

Do not wait for negotiations to end without checking the deadline for going to court. For example, there is a short deadline for challenging some types of dismissal; it depends on how the contract was ended. Debts, insurance claims, tenancies and administrative cases all have different deadlines.

“If you can- move out , nothing will come of it. We've got a similar situation. Not as bad of course, but it's the second winter the ceiling's been leaking. The management company blames bad contractors, which they've taken to court, and they're bankrupt, naturally. We got a quote done and wrote a letter saying we'd repair it at our own expense and be compensated later, and they replied they can't give any guarantees. You can't get onto the roof yourself, so we're living waiting for spring. The flat's ours, otherwise I'd have ended the contract and moved.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

left4portugal10.02.2026

Decide whether you need a lawyer

At a Julgado de Paz, a lawyer is usually not compulsory at first instance, although it is better to go through a complex dispute with a specialist beforehand. On appeal, being represented by a lawyer becomes compulsory.

In ordinary civil proceedings an advogado (lawyer) is usually compulsory if the value of the claim exceeds the alçada do tribunal de primeira instância (the first-instance court's value limit) — €5,000 in 2026 — and in cases and stages where the law expressly requires a representative. In the employment court, whether you can act on your own depends on the value and type of proceedings; under certain conditions a worker can be represented by the Ministério Público (public prosecutor's office).

If you cannot afford it, apply for apoio judiciário (state legal aid) through Segurança Social Direta (the social security portal) or on paper. It can include exemption from court costs or paying them in instalments, and having a lawyer appointed. It is best to apply before the first fee is due and before any procedural deadline runs out.

“Take it to court. My residence permit ran out in February, I applied to renew it in mid-January. Waited exactly the 90 days I was supposed to and went to court through a lawyer. About 3 weeks +/- after filing I got approval. A week after that the postman brought the card.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

motorbike chat 🇵🇹07.07.2026

Work out and pay the court costs

A Julgado de Paz has its own single fee. In 2026 the full cost of the proceedings is €70: usually the claimant and the defendant pay €35 each, and after the decision the losing party bears the final cost and refunds the winner's payment. If the dispute ends with an agreement in mediation, the total is €50, as a rule €25 from each party. Before paying, check the current payment details of the specific Julgado de Paz.

In the ordinary courts the taxa de justiça (court fee) is not one fixed sum. It is calculated under the Regulamento das Custas Processuais (rules on court costs), according to the value and type of case and the stage of the proceedings. The unit of account, Unidade de Conta, UC, is €102 in 2026; the minimum initial fee in an ordinary civil case usually starts at 1 UC, but reductions, exemptions and special proceedings change the calculation. Use the Simulador de Taxas de Justiça (court fee calculator) on Justiça.gov.pt or a calculation from your lawyer.

On top of the taxa de justiça, there may be costs for a lawyer, an interpreter, expert reports, serving documents and enforcing the judgment. The court may award custas de parte (the recoverable share of costs), but that does not mean you automatically get all your lawyer's fees back.

File your claim and keep an eye on notifications

At a Julgado de Paz you can file a claim at the secretaria (court office) in writing or orally, with staff writing it down. State the parties, addresses, facts, the exact amount and the outcome you want. In the ordinary courts, lawyers file documents through Citius (the courts' online portal); without a lawyer, how you may file depends on the specific proceedings.

Once the case is registered, keep the case number — número do processo. The court will send the documents to the defendant and set a deadline for the contestação (defence). If a letter from the court goes unanswered, the case may go ahead without your side being heard. If you change address, tell the court straight away.

All documents are submitted in Portuguese. For foreign documents the court may require a translation and, depending on the document and the country, an Apostila (apostille) or consular legalisation.

“Yeah well I've been waiting since January myself ) we went to court in January Sometime in July there was a court ruling Then some AIMA boss rang the lawyer asking to wait a bit and like not to apply sanctions in the form of bailiffs and so on saying they're about to give a slot any minute now. Then a month went by no slot. And on Thursday the lawyer wrote to the court asking to bring in the bailiffs. ) I'm watching all this like a TV series .”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

ru_Portugal_pt10.08.2025

Be ready for waiting, postponements and the hearing

How long it takes depends on the court, the city, urgency, serving documents on the defendant, expert reports and the judge's workload. A simple case at a Julgado de Paz usually moves faster than an ordinary claim, but there is no fixed time for it to finish. In ordinary civil or administrative proceedings the wait can run to months or years.

Experience with urgent immigration cases varies widely: in one case approval came about three weeks after the claim was filed, and the card a week after that. In another, the court ruling alone took eight months. In yet another, people waited from January to July for a ruling, and then the agency failed to act on it for more than a month.

Bring the original documents to the hearing and prepare a short timeline in advance: what happened, what evidence backs it up and exactly what you are asking for. Do not count on the court finding the documents itself or putting your claim into words for you.

Get the judgment and, if necessary, push for enforcement

After the sentença (judgment), check the deadline for appeal. It depends on the type of case and procedure and usually runs from the official notification, not from the date you found out the result yourself.

If the losing party does not pay or comply with the judgment, you may need execução (enforcement proceedings) through an agente de execução (enforcement agent). With a public body, separate procedural steps may also be needed: the judgment on its own does not always lead to an appointment being given or a document being issued straight away.

Even a money claim you have won can end with nothing actually paid if the debtor has no assets or has become insolvent. So before bringing an expensive claim, it is worth weighing up not only your chances of proving it but also whether you can actually recover the money.

“There are people in our chat with golden visas who won a case against SEF, saying SEF has to issue the residence permit immediately (and those people had been waiting for their permit for three years or so, well definitely a very long time) Well SEF, and now AIMA too, absolutely didn't give a damn and still don't about that court ruling”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

pequenos_PT06.01.2026

Treat stories about outcomes with caution

The experiences cited here include no completed court cases between a tenant and a landlord or between a policyholder and an insurer, so no typical outcome can be promised. In the story about the leaking roof, the management company pointed to its claim against bankrupt contractors, but the repairs and compensation remained unresolved.

The employment dispute among these accounts is still under way: the worker is challenging their dismissal and, while preparing, found out that the employer had reported it to Segurança Social (social security) late. This is a useful practical detail, but not an example of a case won.

The possible outcomes of any such dispute are a settlement, the claim being upheld in full or in part, or the claim being rejected. The result depends on the documents, deadlines, jurisdiction and whether the defendant can pay.