Portugal, Évora Court of Appeal, Decision of 8th June 2017

Member State
Portugal
Topic

Rule of Law, access to justice 

Deciding Court Original Language

Tribunal da Relação de Évora

Deciding Court English translation

Évora Court of Appeal

Registration N

613/03.9TBSLV.E1

Date Decision

8th June 2017

ECLI (if available)

PT:TRE:2017:613.03.9TBSLV.E1.2D

National Follow Up Of (when relevant)

Not applicable 

EU legal sources and CJEU jurisprudence
Not applicable 
ECtHR Jurisprudence
Not applicable 
Subject Matter

Rule of law - Access to justice - Legal fees are too costly for the average citizen

Legal issue(s)

In Portugal, those who go to court will incur in legal administrative court fees. That amount has been considered to be excessive, to the point of making it impossible for the average citizen to enforce its rights.

Request for expedited/PPU procedures
Not applicable 
Interim Relief
Not applicable 
National Law Sources

Article 20 of the Portuguese Constitution. 

Facts of the case

The Judge concluded that the court fee would reach an amount that would restrict access to justice and thus constitute a violation of the Constitution - article 20.

Reasoning (role of the Charter or other EU, ECHR related legal basis)

The court lowered the fee that should be paid by 1/3, taking into account the financial capacity of the applicant.

Relation of the case to the EU Charter
Not applicable 
Relation between the EU Charter and ECHR
Not applicable 
Use of Judicial Interaction technique(s)
Not applicable 
Horizontal Judicial Interaction patterns (Internal – with other national courts, and external – with foreign courts)
Not applicable 
Vertical Judicial Interaction patterns (Internal – with other superior national courts, and external – with European supranational courts)
Not applicable 
Strategic use of judicial interaction technique (purpose aimed by the national court)
Not applicable 
Impact on Legislation / Policy
Not applicable 
Notes on the national implementation of the preliminary ruling by the referring court
Not applicable 
Impact on national case law from the same Member State or other Member States
Not applicable 
 
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