The President of the Portuguese Republic declared, for the first time in the Constitution’s history, the State of Emergency.

The State of Emergency can only be declared in the following situations: “effective or imminent aggression by foreign powers, serious threat or disruption to the democratic constitutional order or public calamity”.

Given the rapid transmission of the Covid-19 virus in Portugal and in view a situation of public calamity, the President of Portugal declared the state of emergency, in the national territory, for a period of 15 (fifteen) days. Under the Constitution, the State of Emergency cannot be declared for a period of more than 15 (fifteen) days, but it is possible to renew it, at the end of the 15 days, for an equal period.

The State of Emergency is an exceptional state during which it is possible to partially suspend and / or restrict the exercise of citizens' constitutional rights, freedoms and guarantees. In the specific case, the declaration of State of Emergency issued by the President of Portugal, provides for the possibility of limiting, at least in the next 15 (fifteen) days, the following fundamental rights:

a) Freedom of movement and settlement anywhere in the national territory

b) Right of ownership and private economic initiative;

c) Rights of Employees;

d) Rights of International movement;

e) Right to meetings and demonstrations;

f) Freedom of worship, in its collective dimension;

g) Right to resist.

Notwithstanding the above, the declaration of the State of Emergency cannot affect the following fundamental rights:

a) Right to life;

b) Right to personal integrity;

c) Right to personal identity;

d) Right to civil capacity and citizenship;

e) Right to non-retroactive application of criminal law;

f) Defendants' right of defense;

g) Freedom of conscience and religion;

h) Freedom of expression and information.

The Government has therefore been empowered, in the person of the Prime Minister, to take the necessary and appropriate measures to combat the epidemic of COVID-19, including:

i. Compulsive confinement at home or in a health facility;

ii. Establishment of sanitary zones;

iii. Prohibition of travel and being in public places;

iv. Requisition to provide services and use of movable and immovable property, health care units, commercial and industrial establishments, companies and production units;

v. Obligation to open and operate, change the activity, operation or closure of companies, establishments and means of production;

vi. Imposition of changes to the quantity, nature or price of goods produced and sold or to the respective distribution and marketing procedures and circuits;

vii. Requisition of workers in the sectors of health, civil protection, security and defense and other activities that can contribute to the treatment of patients, the prevention and fight against the spread of the epidemic, as well as the production, distribution and supply of essential goods and services, the functioning of vital sectors of the economy, the operation of critical networks and infrastructure and the maintenance of public order and the rule of law;

viii. Suspension of the right to strike in the context of the functioning of critical infrastructures, provision of health care, economic sectors vital to the production, distribution and supply of essential goods and services;

ix. Establishment of border controls, including sanitary facilities for people and goods, ensuring the international circulation of essential goods and services;

x. Limitation or prohibition of meetings or demonstrations;

xi. Limitation or prohibition on holding religious celebrations and other events of worship;

xii. Prohibition of any act of resistance, active or passive, in relation to orders issued by public authorities.

Any violation of the provisions of the declaration of the State of Emergency, will be considred a crime of disobedience, foreseen and punished under the terms of the Criminal Code.

Finally, it should be noted that since 17 March 2020 and until 2 April 2020, due to the high risk of contagion of COVID-19 as the epidemic is already in the stage of active contagion in the community, the State of Calamity was decreed in the municipality of Ovar. In this sense, the municipality was placed under a regional quarantine regime, with the closure of all commercial establishments and non-essential services having been determined, with limited movement of people to and from the municipality.

In the coming days there will be more information on the concrete measures that the Government will apply, within the scope of the State of Emergency; for now it is known that the Directorate-General for Health has been summoned to indicate which measures it considers important to implement as of now.