Figueira da Foz Gets a Peace Court of Its Own, Where Claims up to 15,000 Euros Cost 70 Euros to Settle
Decreto-Lei n.º 192/2026 creates the Julgado de Paz da Figueira da Foz from today. Where it will sit and when it opens still depend on two ministerial orders, and local mediation is available meanwhile.
Figueira da Foz is getting its own julgado de paz, the small-claims peace court where neighbours, tenants, flat owners and people involved in minor road accidents can settle civil disputes worth up to 15,000 euros without going through the ordinary courts. Decreto-Lei n.º 192/2026, published in the official gazette on Tuesday, creates the court and takes effect today. It will not be hearing cases just yet.
The decree's preamble explains the origin. The municipality told the justice ministry it wanted its residents to have access to local dispute resolution, and the two signed a protocol covering the installation, organisation and running of a peace court for the whole concelho. The government puts the population it will serve at 60,670 people.
What the decree settles, and what it leaves for later
The new court covers every freguesia in the concelho of Figueira da Foz and will sit within the municipality, but the decree does not say where. The address will be fixed in the court's internal regulation, to be approved by a portaria from the justice minister, and a separate portaria will set out the installation itself. Opening hours will be agreed between the Direção-Geral da Política de Justiça (DGPJ) and the municipality, after hearing the Conselho dos Julgados de Paz.
The money is shared. Fees collected at the court will be divided between the justice ministry and the Município da Figueira da Foz, following the split already set in Portaria n.º 342/2019. Before approval the government heard the Conselho dos Julgados de Paz, the Conselho Superior da Magistratura, the national associations of municipalities and parishes, the Ordem dos Solicitadores e dos Agentes de Execução and the Sindicato Nacional dos Juízes de Paz, and consulted the Ordem dos Advogados and three mediators' bodies. The Council of Ministers approved the decree on 20 August and the President promulgated it on 15 September.
What a peace court can hear
Peace courts operate under Lei n.º 78/2001 and deal with civil claims up to 15,000 euros, excluding family, inheritance and employment matters. According to the DGPJ, typical cases include disputes between flat owners and their condominium over works or lifts, quarrels between neighbours over rights of way, windows, hedges and drainage, claims under an urban lease (but not evictions), civil liability for traffic accidents or damage caused by animals, and the recovery of unpaid debts outside standard-form contracts. They can also hear compensation claims arising from certain minor offences, such as simple assault, insults or petty theft, where no criminal complaint has been filed or it has been withdrawn.
The cost is what sets them apart. Using a peace court carries a single fee of 70 euros, paid by the losing party; where the parties reach agreement in mediation, the fee is 50 euros, split between them. The DGPJ puts the average length of a completed case at seven months, based on the council's 2022 annual report. A claim can be filed in writing, by email or post, or orally at the court's office, where staff put it in writing. Parties must attend in person and may bring a lawyer or solicitor if they wish; a lawyer becomes compulsory for an appeal and in the cases the law specifies, which the DGPJ says include a party who does not have a command of Portuguese.
Until the Figueira court opens, residents are not entirely without options. Where there is no peace court in the relevant concelho, the DGPJ notes that parties can still use the mediation service of any installed julgado de paz through what it calls extra-competence mediation. Our practical guide to the julgados de paz walks through how to file a claim and when a decision can be appealed.
