Law 145/2015, of 9th September, pursuant to Law 2/2013 of 10th January, which establishes the legal regime of the creation, organization and operation of public associations, approved the new Statutes of the Portuguese Bar Association (SBA), and came into force on 9th October 2015.

We highlight below the most significant changes brought about by the new Statutes, as follows:

1. Updating Concepts

• The Portuguese Bar Association is now divided into seven regions (Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Azores and Madeira) instead of seven districts as before;
• The District Councils are now named Regional Councils;

2. Fiscal Board

• A new entity within the Portuguese Bar Association was created - the Fiscal Council. It comprises a President, two members and a Chartered Accountant, and its purpose is to monitor and control the financial management of the Portuguese Bar Association, assess and supervise its accounting, and deal with any fiscal, accounting, financial and tax matters.

3. Referendum

• Lawyers can now be called to give their opinion by way of a referendum, at a national level, on matters subject to the General Assembly, the President or the General Council – the results can either be binding or persuasive.
• The referendum is called by the President, after authorization of the General Assembly, at the initiative of the President, by resolution of the General Assembly or at the request of one tenth of lawyers registered at the Bar Association.

4. Ombudsman

• The Ombudsman is a new body that was not foreseen in the previous Statutes;
• An Ombudsman may be appointed by the General Council, under the proposal of the President, and shall be responsible for examining complaints from clients in relation to legal services provided and make recommendations, in order to resolve the complaints and also as a means to improve the performance of the Bar;
• The Ombudsman does not need to be a lawyer and can only be dismissed by way of a Council decision, and only for serious misconduct.

5. Disciplinary Offences

• The suspension of the limitation period for disciplinary proceedings cannot exceed 18 months (previously 2 years);
• The facts that constitute a disciplinary offense may be reported to the Bar Association by any person, directly or indirectly affected by them, but the right to make a complaint lapses within six months from the date on which the person became aware of the facts;
• General Employment Law on Civil Servants (approved by Law 35/2014 of 20th June) is applicable to disciplinary proceedings (previously the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code were applicable);
• The new Statute only refers to disciplinary "sanctions” instead of disciplinary "penalties";
• A lawyer who commits an offence within 5 years from the previous offence is considered a repeat offender;
• After 10 years, the disciplinary record is automatically cleared up.

6. Internship

• While the internship still comprises two stages, the duration of the internship has now been reduced to eighteen months, and the trainee can now pass automatically from the first to the second stage without having to sit an exam.

7. Law Firms

• Lawyers that are established in Portugal may exercise their profession through law firms, but multidisciplinary firms are not permitted;
• Law firms are now taxed as corporate entities (which was not the case before).

8. Ministry

• The Ministry of Justice supervises the Portuguese Bar Association.