Part I
General

CHAPTER II
General rules of procedure


Article 21
Procedure

1. The "Procuradoria-Geral da República" (Attorney-General's Office) is hereby designated to be the Central Authority for the purpose of receiving and transmitting any requests for co-operation covered by this law, as well as for all communications relating thereto.

2. Any request for co-operation made to Portugal shall be forwarded to the Minister of Justice by the Attorney-General with a view to its admissibility being decided upon.

3. Any request for co-operation made by Portuguese authorities shall be forwarded to the Minister of Justice by the Attorney-General.

4. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not prejudice direct contacts relating to requests for co-operation, as mentioned in Article 1.1.f).


Article 22
Communication of requests

1. For the communication of requests, the use, where available, of adequate telematic means, including telefax, shall be permitted, subject to the authenticity, confidentiality and reliability of the data transmitted being assured and subject to an agreement between the requesting and the requested State.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not prejudice the use of urgent channels as provided for in Article 29.2.


Article 23
Requests

1. Requests for international co-operation shall indicate:

a) The requesting as well as the requested authorities, even if the indication of the latter may be in general terms;
b) the purpose of and the reasons for the request;
c) the legal qualification of the facts on the grounds of which the request is made;
d) the identification of the suspect, the accused or the sentenced person, of the person whose extradition or transfer is requested, as well as the identification of the witness or the expert whose evidence is sought;
e) a description of the facts, including time and place, proportional to the importance of the co-operation requested;
f) the text of the legal provisions applicable in the requesting State;
g) any relevant documents.

2. The authentication of the documents shall not be required.

3. The competent authority may require that a formally irregular or an incomplete request be modified or completed, without that precluding the possibility of taking provisional measures whenever such measures should not await the revised request.

4. The requirement mentioned in sub-paragraph f) of paragraph 1 above may be dispensed with where the form of co-operation requested is that which is mentioned in Article 1.1.f).


Article 24
Admissibility

1. Any decision by the Minister of Justice that declares the request admissible shall not bind the judicial authorities.

2. Any decision that declares the request inadmissible must be motivated and may not be appealed against.

3. The decisions mentioned in the preceding paragraph must be communicated by the Central Authority to the national or foreign requesting authority.


Article 25
Municipal jurisdiction for international co-operation

1. The jurisdiction of the Portuguese authorities, both for requesting international co-operation and for executing a request made to Portugal shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the following Parts.

2. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, supplementary legislation thereto, as well as the legislation relating to offences of a regulatory nature shall apply as subsidiary provisions.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General


Article 131
Request

1. Any request made to Portugal shall be submitted by the Central Authority to the Minister of Justice.

2. The Minister of Justice may request an opinion from any agency that is empowered to follow the measures imposed in the sentence.

3. If the Minister of Justice accepts the request, the Attorney-General's Office shall forward it to the public prosecutor attached to the ""Tribunal da Relação" that has jurisdiction in the area of the residence of the person concerned for obtaining a judicial decision on the admissibility of the request.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER II
Request for assistance


Article 152
Procedure

1. Requests for assistance that take the form of letters rogatory may be transmitted directly between competent judicial authorities, without prejudice to the possibility of using the channels mentioned in Article 29.

2. In accordance with the criminal procedure law, the judge or the public prosecutor shall be empowered to take decisions to the effect of executing letters rogatory.

3. Where a letter rogatory is received that should not be executed by the public prosecutor, the public prosecutor shall be given the possibility to state his opinion.

4. The execution of letters rogatory shall be refused in the following cases:

a) where the requested authority is not empowered to execute the measures sought, without prejudice of the transmission of the letter rogatory to the competent judicial authority if such authority is a Portuguese authority;
b) where the measures sought are forbidden by law or contrary to the Portuguese "ordre public";
c) where the execution of the letter rogatory offends the sovereignty or the security of the State;
d) where the measures imply the execution of a decision of a foreign court, and that decision must have previously been reviewed and confirmed and that decision has not been reviewed and confirmed.

5. Other requests, in particular requests relating to criminal records, to the verification of the identity of a person and mere requests for information, may be directly forwarded to the competent authorities or entities and, once complied with, the result communicated back through the same channels.

6. The provisions of paragraph 4 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to requests that do not take the form of a letter rogatory.

7. The provisions of paragraph 3 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to letters rogatory addressed by any competent Portuguese judicial authority to any foreign authorities; letters rogatory shall be issued in every instance where any competent Portuguese judicial authority deems that such is necessary in order to obtain evidence of any fact that is essential either to the prosecution or to the defence.

Part I
General

CHAPTER II
General rules of procedure

Article 21
Procedure

1. The "Procuradoria-Geral da República" (Attorney-General's Office) is hereby designated to be the Central Authority for the purpose of receiving and transmitting any requests for co-operation covered by this law, as well as for all communications relating thereto.

2. Any request for co-operation made to Portugal shall be forwarded to the Minister of Justice by the Attorney-General with a view to its admissibility being decided upon.

3. Any request for co-operation made by Portuguese authorities shall be forwarded to the Minister of Justice by the Attorney-General.

4. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not prejudice direct contacts relating to requests for co-operation, as mentioned in Article 1.1.f).

Article 22
Communication of requests

1. For the communication of requests, the use, where available, of adequate telematic means, including telefax, shall be permitted, subject to the authenticity, confidentiality and reliability of the data transmitted being assured and subject to an agreement between the requesting and the requested State.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not prejudice the use of urgent channels as provided for in Article 29.2.

Article 23
Requests

1. Requests for international co-operation shall indicate :

a) The requesting as well as the requested authorities, even if the indication of the latter may be in general terms ;
b) the purpose of and the reasons for the request
c) the legal qualification of the facts on the grounds of which the request is made ;
d) the identification of the suspect, the accused or the sentenced person, of the person whose extradition or transfer is requested, as well as the identification of the witness or the expert whose evidence is sought ;
e) a description of the facts, including time and place, proportional to the importance of the co-operation requested ;
f) the text of the legal provisions applicable in the requesting State ;
g) any relevant documents.

2. The authentication of the documents shall not be required.

3. The competent authority may require that a formally irregular or an incomplete request be modified or completed, without that precluding the possibility of taking provisional measures whenever such measures should not await the revised request.

4. The requirement mentioned in sub-paragraph f) of paragraph 1 above may be dispensed with where the form of co-operation requested is that which is mentioned in Article 1.1.f).

Article 24
Admissibility

1. Any decision by the Minister of Justice that declares the request admissible shall not bind the judicial authorities.

2. Any decision that declares the request inadmissible must be motivated and may not be appealed against.

3. The decisions mentioned in the preceding paragraph must be communicated by the Central Authority to the national or foreign requesting authority.


Article 25
Municipal jurisdiction for international co-operation

1. The jurisdiction of the Portuguese authorities, both for requesting international co-operation and for executing a request made to Portugal shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the following Parts.

2. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, supplementary legislation thereto, as well as the legislation relating to offences of a regulatory nature shall apply as subsidiary provisions.

Part V
Supervision of conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders

CHAPTER I
General

Article 131
Request

1. Any request made to Portugal shall be submitted by the Central Authority to the Minister of Justice.

2. The Minister of Justice may request an opinion from any agency that is empowered to follow the measures imposed in the sentence.

3. If the Minister of Justice accepts the request, the Attorney-General's Office shall forward it to the public prosecutor attached to the ""Tribunal da Relação"l" that has jurisdiction in the area of the residence of the person concerned for obtaining a judicial decision on the admissibility of the request.

Part VI
Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters

CHAPTER II
Request for assistance

Article 152
Procedure

1. Requests for assistance that take the form of letters rogatory may be transmitted directly between competent judicial authorities, without prejudice to the possibility of using the channels mentioned in Article 29.

2. In accordance with the criminal procedure law, the judge or the public prosecutor shall be empowered to take decisions to the effect of executing letters rogatory.

3. Where a letter rogatory is received that should not be executed by the public prosecutor, the public prosecutor shall be given the possibility to state his opinion.

4. The execution of letters rogatory shall be refused in the following cases : where the requested authority is not empowered to execute the measures sought, without prejudice of the transmission of the letter rogatory to the competent judicial authority if such authority is a Portuguese authority ; where the measures sought are forbidden by law or contrary to the Portuguese "ordre public" ;
where the execution of the letter rogatory offends the sovereignty or the security of the State ; where the measures imply the execution of a decision of a foreign court, and that decision must have previously been reviewed and confirmed and that decision has not been reviewed and confirmed.

5. Other requests, in particular requests relating to criminal records, to the verification of the identity of a person and mere requests for information, may be directly forwarded to the competent authorities or entities and, once complied with, the result communicated back through the same channels.

6. The provisions of paragraph 4 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to requests that do not take the form of a letter rogatory.

7. The provisions of paragraph 3 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to letters rogatory addressed by any competent Portuguese judicial authority to any foreign authorities; letters rogatory shall be issued in every instance where any competent Portuguese judicial authority deems that such is necessary in order to obtain evidence of any fact that is essential either to the prosecution or to the defence.