The New Regime for the Electronic Service of Summons of Legal Entities in Portugal

The Decree-Law 87/2024, published on 7 November 2024, introduced the new rule that the service of summons of legal entities must be done electronically, implementing a system that aims to improve communication between the courts and legal entities.

Legal entities that do not adhere to the new system will only be guaranteed a single letter which, if not received, will be deposited in the mailbox. In this case, the legal entity must pay the postal service fee, which is intended to cover the costs related to the service of summons of EUR51.00, equivalent to half of 1 UC.

How do I join the new electronic summons service?

 

Registration and access to the new platforms

• The primary aspect to consider is the need to register an email address, which will be associated with the digital reserved access area¹. This registration allows users to receive a notice in their email inbox each time a new summons or notification is made available in the digital reserved access area.
• Under the terms of the Decree-Law 93/2017, this registration consists of the legal entity or natural person adherence to the public electronic notification service where, by associating an email address with this service, a single digital address is also created, which can be considered equivalent to the head office of a legal entity or the tax residence of a natural person.
• It should be noted that only one email address can be associated to the public electronic notification service, which becomes the single digital address.
• Legal entities or natural persons must join the public electronic notification service here.
• Under the terms of Article 2(1) of the Decree-Law 93/2017, all natural persons and legal entities, public and private, national and foreign, who voluntarily indicate a single digital address and join the public electronic notification service, can register here. It should be noted that, for the purposes of electronic summons in judicial proceedings, when the entity being served is not subject to compulsory registration in the central file of the National Register of Legal Entities, the rules for the service of summons for natural persons will apply, as provided for in the new wording of Article 246(5) of the Civil Procedure Code.

Legal entities

• Once registered, access to the reserved area for legal entities is granted via the Professional Attribute Certification System (SCAP), which allows professional attributes to be associated with the digital certificates of the Citizen's Card and the Digital Mobile Key so that representatives of legal entities can access the digital reserved area of the Courts.
• The following can access it: (i) anyone who is a representative of the company or (ii) anyone who has the status and power of certified legal representative.

Natural persons

• As for natural persons, the new mandatory rule does not apply. They have the option to sign up for this new technological solution by accessing the reserved digital access area in the courts' digital space and authenticating themselves with their Citizen Card or Digital Mobile Key.

 

Consultation of the summons (or electronic notification)

• Once registered, users must consult the summonses, notifications and other communications sent by the courts, which will be made available in the digital reserved access area, located in the digital services area of the courts, accessible here.
• The summons of legal entities and natural persons will always be accompanied by a notice sent to the single digital address.

Legal entities

• Once the legal entity’s summons has been consulted electronically in the reserved area, this is the date on which it will be deemed to have been served.
• If the summons is not consulted within eight days, a new notice is sent to the legal entity, but now by post, to the address of its registered head office. Although a new notice is sent on the eighth day after the summons was sent, the system certifies that the summons has not been consulted, and the summons is deemed to have been served on that date.
• Failure to consult after 8 days leads to an extension of the defence period. However, insofar as technology allows us to know exactly when there has been a consultation, it is determined that the extension will have a maximum of 30 days. Therefore, the normal defence period starts on the day the consultation takes place, with a maximum of 30 days.

Natural persons

• In the case of natural persons, service by electronic means is deemed to have taken place on the date of consultation of the reserved access area.
• After eight days of not being consulted, a notice is sent by post to your home.
• If the summons that has been deposited in the reserved access area is not consulted within thirty days, it is presumed that the summons has been refused. If the contrary is not demonstrated, the summons is returned by the system, and the court orders the summons to be served by personal contact with the Court-appointed Enforcement Agent, but if it is consulted before contacting the Court-appointed Enforcement Agent, the summons is deemed to have been served.

 

Transitional period

• During the six months following the entry into force of the Decree-Law 87/2024 (until 11 May 2025), if it is not possible to serve summonses electronically due to the legal entity’s failure to register its email address, the summons will be sent by post.
• In the transitional period, neither the provision for sending only one letter nor the fee provided for in the Procedural Costs Regulation (for postal service costs and non-adherence to electronic notifications) apply.
• Failure to join at the end of the transitional period has no consequences other than the payment of the EUR51.00 fee for the service of the summons and for each electronic notification and, for the time being, not many entities have joined the Public Service for Electronic Notifications

 

Consequences of not adhering to the electronic system

• Legal entities who do not adhere to the new regime will only be guaranteed a single letter which, if not received, will be deposited in the mailbox.
• In this case, the legal entity must pay the postal service fee, which is intended to cover the costs related to the service of EUR51.00, half of 1 UC.

 

Relevant legislation

• Article 225 to Article 258 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
• Law 38-A/2024, of 27 September, which authorises the government to regulate the electronic service of summons of natural persons and legal entities, determining that the service of summons of legal entities shall, as a rule, be carried out by electronic means.
• Decree-Law 91/2024 of 22 November, which regulates electronic summonses and notifications to natural persons and legal entities in the context of judicial proceedings.
• Decree-Law 87/2024 of 7 November, which regulates the service of summons of natural persons and legal entities, determining that the service of summons of legal entities shall, as a rule, be carried out by electronic means.
• Order 10/2025/1, of 14 January, which defines the rules for authentication, security, control, use and operation of the Courts' Digital Services Area.

 

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¹ Access to the digital reserved access area is here.