Registration as a Foreign Lawyer

Practicing law in Portugal, as a professional activity, always implies registration before the Bar, under penalty of illegal representation (under Law 49/2004) since it is a Proper Act exclusive to members (transgression implies criminal prosecution).

To achieve this, please mind the following steps and informations:

1 - Get recognition of your Law degree at DGES (Level Recognition), authority from Higher studies

https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento

2 - After dealing with the degree, you may contact Regional services as below, referring to the AREA you wish 

https://portal.oa.pt/ordem/orgaos-da-ordem/conselhos-regionais/

In Portugal, foreign lawyers (professionals from other countries non EU Members) are asked to register as an intern/trainee, they have to do initial training in our legal system and submit to an exam in our official Language, as following (please take due note of this regulation’s translation,  shared hereunder):

ENROLMENT AS A TRAINEE LAWYER - FOREIGN CITIZEN

[article 194 of the EOA[2] and article 20 of the RIAAE]

Documentation to be submitted

Enrolment should be requested from the Regional Council where the applicant Trainee Lawyer intends to carry out the internship.

1)            Application for enrolment as a Trainee Lawyer;

2)            Enrolment forms, with personal and professional signature of the applicant;

3)            Statement of the Sponsor:

1. a)            who should have more than 5 (five) years of effective exercise of the profession, without

disciplinary punishment above that of a fine (cf. article 192, number 2, subparagraph l) of the EOA);

1. b)           "(...) l) Not accept more than two trainee lawyers simultaneously." (cf. article

16, subparagraph l) of the RNE[3]);

1. c)            which states that the sponsorship is accepted with all the inherent legal obligations;

4)            Form for issue of the Trainee Lawyer professional license;

5)            Narrative Birth Certificate or equivalent document of the state of origin (6 months validity) *;

6)            Criminal Record Certificate of the Country of Origin * (3 months validity);

7)            Portuguese Criminal Record Certificate (3 months validity);

8)            Licentiate Degree Certificate, accompanied by Statement:

Confirming document of academic qualification necessary in the original copy, authenticated copy or certified photocopy (licentiate degree diploma, certificate of qualifications stating the date of completion and final grade); or, in its absence, document confirming that it has already been requested and is in condition to be dispatched); When the applicant asserts the impossibility of attaching the course diploma or its authenticated copy, this assertion should be confirmed by document issued by the respective Faculty, providing evidence of this impossibility and unequivocally certifying the date of graduation. This document should be dated, signed and have the embossed stamp or ink stamp of the respective Faculty of Law;

9)            Statement under oath of not performing any duties incompatible with the practice of Law, under the terms of articles 81 and following of the EOA

-              (Whenever the applicant declares the exercise of any professional activity, a copy of the employment contract and a statement of the respective employer entity should be attached, which should mention the applicant’s duties, professional category, working hours and contractual arrangement);

-              Disciplinary Record, if the Applicant has been an employee or agent of the administration or magistrate;

10)         Authorisation of the applicant for Data collection for Computerisation;

11)         Photocopy of the Identity Card / Citizen Card or Passport and Portuguese Taxpayer Card, whose originals should be displayed;

12)         Copy of the Residence Permit issued by the competent authority of the Portuguese State, whose original should be displayed;

13)         4 Photographs that are identical, passport size (taken less than 6 months previously, without marks, stains or shadows, with a uniform background of a light colour, avoiding shadows and reflections and with the face turned towards the camera);

14)         Subscription of a personal accident and professional civil liability insurance policy (18 months validity), pursuant to article 196, number 5 of the EOA - transcribed below:

Article 196

Competence and duties of trainee lawyers

(...)

5 - Upon enrolment, the trainee should present confirming documental evidence of subscription of a group insurance policy provided by the Portuguese Bar Association, or taken out by the trainee, relative to:

1. a)            Personal accidents, covering the risks which might be incurred during and because of the internship;
2. b)           Professional civil liability insurance, covering, during the undertaking of the internship and for as long as the respective enrolment remains active, the risks inherent to the performance of the tasks attributed as a trainee lawyer, in conformity with the provisions established in the respective policy, which should always be renewed as necessary until the completion of the internship.

(The insurance policy should have a minimum capital of €50,000.00 (fifty thousand euros))

IMPORTANT: *Documents issued in the country of origin should be fully into legalised (apostilled or recognised by a notary public and authenticated by the Portuguese Consulate in that Country) and fully translated into Portuguese (the translation should be certified).

The enrolment should be requested before the Regional Council of the area of the place of business: Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Azores and Madeira

ENROLMENT APPLICATIONS ARE ONLY ACCEPTED AGAINST SUBMISSION OF ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS

>> FEES

Payable upon the act of receipt of the Initial application               € 700.00

Payable within 5 business days before the end of the first phase of the internship           € 300.00

Payable within 30 business days before the date scheduled for the written test which is an integral part of the aggregation exam           € 500.00

(Deliberation number 2332-A/2015 published in Diário da República, II series, number 252 of 28 December) (The sum can be settled in cash, by ATM or cheque)

Internship in the Statutes of the Portuguese Bar Association

CHAPTER II Internship

Article 191

Objectives of the internship and its supervision

1             - The full and autonomous practice of law depends on apprenticeship under the supervision of the Portuguese Bar Association, aimed at qualifying and publicly certifying that the applicant has obtained appropriate technical, professional and ethical training to commence practice and has complied with all the other requirements imposed by the present Statutes and regulations to acquire the title of lawyer.

2             - The access to the internship, the transfer of knowledge of technical, professional and ethical nature, and the inherent assessment system are assured by the internship services of the Portuguese Bar Association, under the regulatory terms.

Article 192

Sponsors and requirements for acceptance of the apprenticeship

1             - The sponsors perform a fundamental role throughout the entire internship period, being entrusted to initiate and prepare the trainees for the full practice of law.

2             - Only lawyers with at least five years of effective exercise of the profession, and that have not incurred disciplinary punishment above that of a fine, can accept the supervision of the internship, as sponsors.

3             - Each Sponsor can only simultaneously supervise one trainee appointed by the Portuguese Bar Association, and the total number of trainees per sponsor cannot exceed that established in the regulations of the internship.

4             - The lawyer appointed by the Portuguese Bar Association to perform duties as a sponsor can only excuse her/himself when there are substantiated grounds for such, which should be freely appraised by the competent regional council, and an appeal can be filed against this decision at the general council.

5             - The sponsor is responsible for:

1. a)            Supervising the preparation of the trainees;
2. b)           Assuring the compulsory procedural interventions;
3. c)            Ensuring that the trainees fulfil all other duties of the internship;
4. d)           Drawing up a final report on the internship of each trainee, which should be submitted directly to the competent assessment board.

Article 193

Applicability of the Statutes

Trainee lawyers are, from the moment of their enrolment, obliged to comply with the present Statutes and all other regulations.

Article 194

Enrolment in the internship

The following may apply for enrolment as trainee lawyer:

1. a)            Holders of a licentiate degree in Law;
2. b)           Holders of a foreign higher education degree in Law that has been given equivalent status to the degree referred to in the previous subparagraph or which has been recognised as being at that level.

Article 195

Duration of the internship, its phases and aggregation exam

1             - The internship seeks to train trainee lawyers through professional practice under the supervision of a sponsor, with a view to improving professional knowledge and enhancing awareness on ethical issues, under terms to be defined by the general council.

2             - The internship begins once every calendar year, on a date to be established by the general council, with its maximum duration being 18 months, counted from the date of enrolment up to the taking of the exam referred to in number 6.

3             - The first phase of the internship, which lasts 6 months, is aimed at endowing the trainees with the essential technical, professional and ethical knowledge for the practice of specific acts of the profession. During this phase, the trainees may be required to carry out work or draw up reports which provide evidence of the acquired knowledge, and should be taken into account in the trainee’s final assessment as elements which are part of the aggregation exam.

4             - The second phase envisages the broad, supplementary and progressive training of the trainee lawyers through professional experience, based on relations with the traditional sponsors, judicial interventions in supervised practices, contacts with judicial life and all other services related to the professional activity, as well as the improvement of technical knowledge and enhancement of awareness on ethical issues through attendance of thematic training actions and participation in the scheme of access to the law and justice under the legal framework in force.

5             - The regulation of the internship establishes the minimum number of procedural interventions to be conducted by the trainees, as well as their legal areas of incidence, where all the necessary conditions should be foreseen for them to conduct the acts that are statutorily permitted to them.

6             - The internship ends with the taking of the aggregation exam, which assesses the knowledge acquired during the two phases of the internship. The attribution of the title of lawyer will depend on a pass grade in this exam, arising from the weighting of its different components, under the terms of the internship regulation which defines, among other aspects, the structure of the aggregation exam.

7             - The trainee lawyer may request the suspension of her/his internship for a maximum period of six months, which always implies the suspension of the internship duration time and the trainee’s re-entry at the phase where she/he was found at the time of the suspension.

8             - Exceptionally and at the request of the trainee lawyer, authorisation may be given for an extension of the internship time for a period of not more than six months.

9             - The general council is responsible for proposing the regulation of the specific model of initial and supplementary training during the internship, the organic structure of the training services and their competences, the continuous assessment system, the arrangement for initiation and integration in an external training internship model provided by other institutions and organisations, and the taking of the aggregation exam.

Article 196

Competence and duties of trainee lawyers

1             - Once the first phase of the internship has been completed, the trainee lawyer may, always under the supervision of the sponsor, conduct the following specific acts of the profession:

1. a)            All acts of the competence of solicitors;
2. b)           Provide legal counsel.

2             - The trainee lawyer may also conduct the specific acts of the profession not included in the previous number, provided that she/he is effectively accompanied by the respective sponsor.

3             - The trainee lawyer should only and always indicate her/his professional capacity in any act in which she/he intervenes.

4             - During the entire internship and training period, the trainee lawyer is bound to the following duties:

1. a)            Scrupulously observe the rules, conditions and limitations that are permissible in the use of the sponsor’s office;
2. b)           Show respect and loyalty for the sponsor;
3. c)            Submit her/himself to the internship plans as defined by the sponsor;
4. d)           Collaborate with the sponsor whenever requested by the sponsor and carry out the assigned work, provided that this work proves compatible with the internship activity;
5. e)           Collaborate with dedication, zeal and competence in all the activities, work and training actions in which the trainee is engaged under the internship programs;
6. f)            Maintain professional secrecy;

1. g)            Inform the competent internship service of any fact that could constrain or limit full compliance with the statutory and regulatory rules inherent to the internship;
2. h)           Fully comply with all other ethical and regulatory obligations in the exercise of the professional activity.

5             - Upon enrolment, the trainee should present confirming documental evidence of subscription of a group insurance policy provided by the Portuguese Bar Association, or taken out by the trainee, relative to:

1. a)            Personal accidents, covering the risks which might be incurred during and because of the internship;
2. b)           Professional civil liability insurance, covering, during the undertaking of the internship and for as long as the respective enrolment remains active, the risks inherent to the performance of the tasks attributed as a trainee lawyer, in conformity with the provisions established in the respective policy, which should always be renewed as necessary until the completion of the internship.

Internship in the Regulations:

Regulation on Enrolment of Lawyers and Trainee Lawyers

Regulation number 913-C/2015, published in Diário da República, II series, number 252 of 28 December

National Regulation on Internship

Regulation number 913-A/2015, published in Diário da República, II series, number 252 of 28 December

Regulation on the National Assessment Committee

Regulation number 913-B/2015, published in Diário da República, II series, number 252 of 28 December

Table on Fees and Prices

Regulation number 2332-A/2015, published in Diário da República, II series, number 252 of 28 December