I. EDITORIAL – CHANGES IN THE PORTUGUESE CIVIL CODE

During the month of August, the Law No. 49/2018, of August 14 established a new legal framework regarding legal incapacities, with relevant changes in the Portuguese Civil Code, as well as other relevant legislation.

Until now, the law foreseen two different possibilities to declare a person suffering from an intellectual disability of being unable to take care of himself and / or its own estate. With a new legal framework, it is expected to become easier and faster to ensure that the appropriate measures are taken for each case, according to the respective disability.

The Ordinance No. 233/2018 of August 21, which regulates the Legal Regime of the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership was approved, establishing the means to fulfil such obligation.

Under the case-law, please note the Judgement of the Court of Justice of 7 August, cases C‑96/16 and C‑94/17, which allows establishing criteria’s in each European country to assess the abusive nature of clauses regarding moratorium interests’ rates.

Finally, the Government announced the intention to extend, during October, the scope of the access for retirement without penalties on the value of the pension, to those with 60 years of age or more and more than 46 years with social security contributions.