Decree-Law No. 87/2024, in force since 10 November 2024, stipulates that legal entities are, as a rule, served electronically via a ‘single digital address’ that must be registered with the public notification service. After the transitional period, which ends on 10 May 2025, if no address has been registered, services of process is effected by registered letter to the registered office listed in the RNPC, and is considered to have been effected on the certified date or, in the case of a notice, on the eighth day following that date; in such cases, the cost is EUR 51. Electronic services is available at https://tribunais.org.pt and is considered to have been effected on the date of consultation or, in the event of non-consultation, on the eighth day after it was made available.
Decree-Law 87/2024 of 7 November (Decree-Law), in force since 10 November 2024, regulates the electronic services of process and notification of individuals and legal entities, determining that the service of process and notification of legal entities should, as a rule, be made electronically.
The Decree-Law provides for a transitional period of six months after it enters into force, ending on 10 May 2025. Thus, after this date, if the legal person has not kept the email address online and, therefore, the service of process cannot be made by this means, it will occur under the following terms:
- A registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt is sent to the registered office of the served party recorded in the central file for legal entities at the National Register of Legal Persons (RNPC);
- The postal service distributor certifies the date and the exact place where it deposited the document and immediately sends the certificate to the court;
- If it is not possible to deposit the letter in the served party's mailbox, the distributor leaves a notice to the addressee, identifying the court from which it came and the case to which it relates, stating the reasons why it was impossible to deliver it, and the letter will remain available for eight days at a duly identified post office;
- The service of process is deemed to have been made on the date certified by the postal service distributor or, if a notice has been left, on the 8th day after that date;
- The legal entity pays for the service of process by post, which corresponds to half of 1 UC (EUR 51).
Let us recall some essential aspects:
- Legal entities must register an email address - which becomes their “unique digital address" and is equivalent to their registered office – for the public service of notifications through the gov.pt website or in person at Citizen Shops and Spaces;
- After registering their email address, each served party can access their reserved digital area through the website https://tribunais.org.pt, where the legal entity’s representative must carry out authentication using a citizen card or digital mobile key;
- The service of process is available in the digital area reserved for the served party and is accompanied by the sending, to the registered email address, of a notice identifying the court from which it comes and the case to which it relates;
- Electronic services of process is deemed to have been made on the date of electronic consultation in the served party’s digital area;
- If the service of process is not consulted by the eighth day after the service of process is made available, the system certifies that it has not been consulted, assuming that the recipient was made aware of the information left for them, and the service of process is deemed to have been made on that date.
For more information, click here for the Legal Alert about Decree-Law 87/2024 and here for the Legal Alert about Decree-Law 91/2024, of 22 November, which regulates the electronic services of process and notification of individuals and legal entities.
