Modernisation of the Justice Sector in Portugal

Annex D. Distribution and specialisation of judicial benches in Portugal

Table A D.1. Overview of judicial bench specialisations and territorial competence in Lisbon and Almada regions

Type of benches	Benches	Area of territorial competence (municipalities)	Number of judges foreseen by law
Benches of specialised competence	Central civil bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	20
	Central criminal bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	24 + 4 military judges
	Local civil bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	24
	Local criminal bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	13
	Petty crime bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	5
	Family and children’s bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	8
	Labour bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	8
	Commerce bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	7
	Enforcement bench of Lisbon	Lisbon	9
	Central civil bench of Almada	Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, and Seixal	3
	Central criminal bench of Almada	Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, and Seixal	6
	Local civil bench of Almada	Almada	2
	Local criminal bench of Almada	Almada	3
	Criminal investigation bench of Almada	Almada	1
	Family and children’s bench of Almada	Almada	3
	Labour bench of Almada	Almada and Seixal	2
	Enforcement bench of Almada	Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, and Seixal	3
	Local criminal bench of Barreiro	Barreiro and Moita	2
	Criminal investigation bench of Barreiro	Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo	1
	Family and children’s bench of Barreiro	Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo	3
	Labour bench of Barreiro	Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo	2
	Commerce bench of Barreiro	Alcochete, Almada, Barreiro, Moita, Montijo, and Seixal	4
	Local civil bench of Moita	Barreiro, and Moita	2
	Local civil bench of Montijo	Alcochete, and Montijo	1
	Local criminal bench of Montijo	Alcochete, and Montijo	2
	Local civil bench of Seixal	Seixal	2
	Local criminal bench of Seixal	Seixal	3
	Criminal investigation bench of Seixal	Seixal	1
	Family and children’s bench of Seixal	Seixal	3
General Competence benches	---	---	---

Source: Government of Portugal (2014[1]), Decreto-Lei n.º 49/2014, https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/2014-105630273.

Table A D.2. Specialised and general competence benches in the Bragança region: Distribution and legal jurisdiction

Type of benches	Benches	Area of territorial competence (municipalities)	Number of judges foreseen by law
Benches of specialised competence	Central civil and criminal bench of Bragança	Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Miranda do Douro, Mirandela, Mogadouro, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Vimioso e Vinhais.	4
	Local civil bench of Bragança	Bragança and Vinhas	2
	Local criminal bench of Bragança	Bragança and Vinhas	1
	Labour bench of Bragança	Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Miranda do Douro, Mirandela, Mogadouro, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Vimioso e Vinhais.	1
General Competence benches	General competence bench of Macedo de Cavaleiros	Macedo de Cavaleiros	1
	General competence bench of Miranda do Douro	Miranda do Douro and Vimioso	1
	General competence bench of Mirandela	Mirandela	2
	General competence bench of Mogadouro	Alfandega da Fé and Mogadouro	1
	General competence bench of Torre de Moncorvo	Freixo de Espada à Cinta and Torre de Moncorvo	1
	General competence bench of Vila Flor	Carrazeda de Ansiães and Vila Flor	1
Proximity sections	Proximity section of Alfandega da Fé	Alfandega da Fé (limited to holding of trial hearings)	---
	Proximity section of Carrazeda de Ansiães	Carrazeda de Ansiães (limited to holding of trial hearings)	---
	Proximity section of Vimioso	Vimioso (limited to holding of trial hearings)	---
	Proximity section of Vinhais	Vinhais (limited to holding of trial hearings)	---

Source: Government of Portugal (2014[1]), Decree-Law 49/2014, https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/2014-105630273.

References

[1] Government of Portugal (2014), Decreto-Lei n.º 49/2014, https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/2014-105630273.