Portugal. Dispute Resolution

In Portugal, judicial litigation is the most widely used type of dispute resolution. The majority of conflicts are resolved by the national judicial system through its large court network, subject to specific and complex procedural rules. However, owing to the lack of efficiency of the Portuguese judicial system, the importance of arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods has been increasing significantly. In fact, in 2022, more than 12,460 arbitration proceedings were initiated before arbitral institutions in Portugal.

There are three levels of judicial jurisdiction in Portugal: first instance courts, second instance courts and the Supreme Court. At first instance, there are specialised courts for specific matters, such as civil, criminal, commercial, labour, family, competition and intellectual property rights. The Appeal Court of Lisbon also created specialised and autonomous sections for appeals concerning specific matters such as commercial, competition and intellectual property rights litigation.

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