Julgados de Paz in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the 15,000 Euro Ceiling, the 70 Euro Fee the Losing Party Pays, and the Appeal Line at 2,500 Euros

If somebody in Portugal owes you 4,000 euros, or your downstairs neighbour will not pay their share of the lift repair, or a builder took a deposit and disappeared, the ordinary answer is a lawyer and a court. There is a second answer that most foreign residents never hear about, and it costs 70 euros, is paid by whoever loses, and does not require a lawyer at all.

It is the julgado de paz, literally the court of the peace: a network of small local tribunals created in 2001 to take civil disputes below a value ceiling out of the main court system and settle them quickly, informally and in plain language. This guide sets out what they can decide, what they cannot, what it costs, how a case actually runs, and the one practical limitation that matters specifically to foreign nationals.

What a julgado de paz is, and what it is not

It is a court. Article 61 of Lei n.º 78/2001, of 13 July, the law that governs their organisation, competence and functioning, says it plainly: decisions handed down by julgados de paz have the value of a judgment given by a court of first instance. A judgment from a julgado de paz is enforceable in the same way as one from a tribunal judicial, and is enforced through the ordinary rules of the Código de Processo Civil (Civil Procedure Code).

What it is not is a small version of a normal court. Article 2 sets out the design principle: proceedings are conceived and run on principles of simplicity, adequacy, informality, orality and absolute procedural economy. Article 19 states that julgados de paz have no staff establishment of their own. Article 26 allows the juiz de paz (justice of the peace) to decide according to equity rather than strict legality, where the parties agree and the value of the action does not exceed half the court's ceiling.

There are no judicial holidays. The DGPJ (Direção-Geral da Política de Justiça, the Directorate-General for Justice Policy) notes that opening hours are set locally to fit local habits, and that the judicial vacation periods which pause the main courts do not apply here.

The 15,000 euro ceiling

Article 8 is one sentence long: julgados de paz have competence for questions whose value does not exceed 15,000 euros. That figure has been in place since Lei n.º 54/2013, of 31 July, which raised it from 5,000. If your claim is worth more than 15,000 euros, this route is closed and you are in the ordinary courts.

Note that the ceiling is about the value of the claim, not about how complicated it is. A 2,000 euro dispute over a badly built wall is within competence. A 20,000 euro debt that nobody contests is not.

What they can decide

Article 9(1) lists the subject matter. In practical terms, the ten categories are:

• Actions to enforce performance of obligations, except money obligations arising from a contrato de adesão (standard-form adhesion contract).
• Actions for delivery of movable things.
• Disputes over the rights and duties of condóminos, the owners in a condominium, provided the owners' assembly has not resolved that disputes must go to arbitration.
• Neighbour disputes between property owners: momentary forced passage, natural water run-off, defensive waterworks, shared ditches and channels, live hedges, the opening of windows, doors and balconies, eaves drip, planting of trees and shrubs, dividing walls.
• Actions for recovery of property, possessory actions, usucapião (acquisitive prescription), accession and division of common property.
• Actions on the use and administration of co-ownership, surface rights, usufruct, use and habitation, and the periodic real right of habitation.
• Urban tenancy actions, except eviction actions.
• Contractual and non-contractual civil liability, which is where road accident damage and damage caused by things and animals sit.
• Breach of contract, except employment contracts and rural leases.
• Actions concerning the general guarantee of obligations.

Article 9(2) adds a second category that surprises people: civil compensation claims arising from certain minor offences, where no criminal complaint has been filed or where it has been withdrawn. The list is simple bodily harm, negligent bodily harm, defamation, insult, simple theft, simple damage, moving boundary markers, and obtaining food, drink or services by deception.

Article 9(3) attaches a hard consequence to that route. Once the julgado de paz hears such a compensation claim, it forecloses the possibility of bringing the corresponding criminal proceedings. You are choosing one door or the other, permanently, so it is worth understanding how the criminal complaint route works before you close it off.

What they cannot decide

The DGPJ states the exclusions directly: family law, succession law and employment law are all outside the competence of julgados de paz, whatever the value. Eviction actions are excluded by article 9(1)(g) even though other tenancy claims are in. Rural leases are excluded. Article 6(1) limits competence to declaratory actions, so you cannot start an enforcement action here, only obtain the judgment you would then enforce elsewhere.

Article 48 largely bars counterclaims. The defendant may only counterclaim to obtain a set-off, or to make good a right to improvements or expenses relating to the thing whose delivery is being demanded.

Which julgado de paz is yours

Territorial competence follows articles 11 to 14:

• Property. Actions about real or personal rights of enjoyment over immovable property, and actions to divide common property, go where the property is.
• Obligations. Actions to enforce an obligation, claim damages for non-performance or defective performance, or terminate a contract for breach, go, at the creditor's choice, either to the place where the obligation should have been performed or to the defendant's home court.
• Civil liability. Actions based on unlawful acts or on risk go to the place where the fact occurred.
• Everything else. The general rule in article 13 is the defendant's domicile. If the defendant has no habitual residence, or is uncertain or absent, it is the claimant's domicile instead.
• A defendant living abroad. Article 13(3) sends the case to the claimant's home court, and where the claimant is also abroad, to any julgado de paz in Lisbon.
• Companies. Article 14 sends the action to the seat of the main administration, or to the seat of the branch or agency, depending on which the claim is directed against.

If there is no julgado de paz installed in the territorially competent municipality, or the subject matter or value falls outside competence, there is still a route in. The DGPJ describes mediação extra-competência, out-of-competence mediation: the parties may use the mediation service of any installed julgado de paz. An agreement reached there is reduced to writing and signed by all participants and has enforceable value, though not the value of a judgment.

What it costs

The fee regime is set by Portaria n.º 342/2019, of 1 October, which rewrote the rules that had stood since 2001. The change it made is the one worth knowing: there is no up-front payment at all. Under the old regime the claimant paid 35 euros to file and the defendant paid 35 euros on filing a defence. The portaria abolished both and moved payment to the end of the case.

Two outcomes, two prices:

• Settled in mediation: 25 euros from each party, 50 euros in total, paid at the julgado de paz once the mediation session that produced the agreement has ended.
• Decided by the judge: a single fee of 70 euros, borne by the party the judge declares to have lost. Where the claim fails only in part, the juiz de paz splits the 70 euros between the parties in the proportion they fix.

Payment for a decided case is due within three working days of learning the decision. Miss it and article 3(4) of the portaria applies a surcharge of 10 euros for each day of delay, capped at a total of 140 euros.

Payment is made through a DUC (Documento Único de Cobrança, the single collection document), via ATM, Multibanco or home banking. Where an agreement reached in mediation is not paid for, the agreement is simply not submitted to the judge for confirmation, and after three working days the case goes on to judgment instead.

Article 40 of the law makes the apoio judiciário (legal aid) regime applicable to proceedings in julgados de paz, and to paying the mediator. If you qualify for legal aid on the Segurança Social means test, you qualify here.

How a case actually runs

Starting it. Article 43 allows the initial request to be made orally or in writing, on a standard form, naming claimant and defendant, with a brief account of the facts, the claim and the value. If you make it orally, the clerk writes it down for you. Filing interrupts the limitation period. If you file in person, you are notified there and then of the date of the pre-mediation session.

Notifying the other side. Article 45 has the registry cite the defendant, sending them a copy of your request, the date of the pre-mediation session, the deadline for a defence and the consequences of not turning up. Article 46 rules out citation by public notice and rules out letters rogatory. Notifications may go by post, in person, by telephone or by fax, and may be sent to the defendant's workplace if the registry knows it.

The defence. Ten days from citation, under article 47, in writing or orally. There is no extension.

Pre-mediation. Article 49 makes this the default first step unless one or both parties have ruled it out in advance. Its purpose, under article 50, is to explain what mediation is and test whether the parties are open to an agreement. If they are, a first mediation session is scheduled immediately. If they are not, the mediator tells the judge and a trial date is set.

Mediation. The parties choose a mediator from the official list, and the registry appoints one if they cannot agree. Mediation takes place at the julgado de paz. If agreement is reached, article 56 has it written down and signed, then immediately confirmed by the juiz de paz, at which point it has the value of a judgment. If not, a trial date is set, and the hearing must happen within 10 days of notification.

Trial. Article 57: the parties are heard, evidence is produced and judgment is given, all at the hearing. No more than one adjournment is allowed, even by agreement, and no adjournment by agreement may exceed 10 days.

Evidence. Article 59 caps each party at five witnesses. Witnesses are not summoned by the court; it is for the parties to bring them on the day. If expert evidence is needed and the judge considers it relevant and not merely delaying, the file goes to the competent first-instance court for that evidence to be produced, and comes back afterwards.

Judgment. Article 60 requires it to be given at the hearing and reduced to writing, with the parties identified, the subject of the dispute, a brief statement of reasons, the decision, the place and date, and the judge's signature. It is notified to the parties in person, immediately before the hearing closes.

Not turning up has consequences

Article 58 is short and the effect is severe. A claimant who was properly notified, does not attend the hearing and does not justify the absence within three days is treated as having withdrawn the claim. A defendant who was personally and properly cited, does not attend, files no written defence and does not justify the absence within three days is treated as having confessed the facts pleaded against them.

Article 54 applies a milder version to mediation. A party who misses pre-mediation or a mediation session without justifying it within three days sends the case straight to the registry for a trial date.

Do you need a lawyer

Article 38(1) requires the parties to appear in person, and permits them to be accompanied by a lawyer, a trainee lawyer or a solicitador. So a lawyer is optional, and sending one instead of turning up yourself is not.

There are two cases where representation is compulsory. Article 38(2) makes assistance obligatory where a party is illiterate, does not know the Portuguese language, or for any other reason is in a position of manifest inferiority, with the judge assessing the need. Article 38(3) makes instructing a lawyer obligatory at the appeal stage.

The language provision is the one that matters most to foreign residents, and it cuts both ways. It is a protection: a court that notices you cannot follow the proceedings is required to do something about it. It is also a practical warning, because the assessment is the judge's, made on the day, according to what article 38(2) calls their prudent judgment.

Appealing

Article 62 allows appeal only where the value of the case exceeds half the ceiling of the first-instance court. The DGPJ puts the resulting line at a value equal to or above 2,500.01 euros. Below that, the judgment of the julgado de paz is the end of the matter.

An appeal goes to the competent section of the tribunal de comarca (district court) in which the julgado de paz sits, and has merely devolutive effect, meaning it does not suspend the judgment. A lawyer is compulsory at this stage.

The RAL+ platform, and the gap in it

Cases can be filed in person, by post, by email to the competent julgado de paz, or online through the RAL+ platform for alternative dispute resolution. The DGPJ states that RAL+ is available for every julgado de paz in the country with the exception of Lisbon, Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, where filings must go in person, by post or by email.

The platform authenticates with the Cartão de Cidadão (Citizen Card) or the Chave Móvel Digital (Digital Mobile Key). The DGPJ page carries an explicit limitation: online submission is available to national citizens, and is not at present possible for foreign citizens holding the Chave Móvel Digital.

That is worth stating plainly, because it is the sort of restriction that only appears once you have already tried. If you are a foreign national, plan on filing in person, by post or by email to the competent julgado de paz, regardless of where in the country it sits.

How long it takes

The DGPJ cites the annual report of the Conselho dos Julgados de Paz (Council of Justices of the Peace) for an average duration of seven months for cases concluded in 2022. That is the most recent figure the directorate publishes, and it is an average across all case types and all courts, so a simple debt settled in mediation will finish much faster and a contested property dispute much slower.

Seven months is the number to hold against the alternative. It is not instant. It is a different order of magnitude from the ordinary civil courts for a claim of the same size, which is the entire reason the network exists.

Who the judge is

Under article 23, a juiz de paz must hold Portuguese nationality, hold a law degree, be over 30, be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights, have no conviction for an intentional crime, and have ceased any other professional activity. They are appointed for five years by the Conselho dos Julgados de Paz, which also exercises disciplinary power over them, and the appointment may be renewed.

The Council itself, under article 65, operates under the Assembleia da República (Assembly of the Republic) rather than the Ministry of Justice, and includes representatives of the parliamentary groups, the Ministry of Justice, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the national municipalities association and the justices of the peace themselves. It reports to parliament annually by 30 April.

Mediators are separate. Under articles 30 and 31 they are independent professionals, over 25, holding a degree, who have completed a course at a training body certified by the Ministry of Justice under the Lei da Mediação (Mediation Law), Lei n.º 29/2013 of 19 April, and who have command of Portuguese. They are barred from practising as lawyers at the julgado de paz where they serve, and have no power to decide anything.

A short checklist

• Is the claim worth 15,000 euros or less, and is it civil rather than family, succession or employment? If not, stop here.
• Work out the competent julgado de paz from articles 11 to 14: property where the property is, obligations at performance or defendant's home, liability where it happened, everything else at the defendant's domicile.
• If you are a foreign national, do not plan on filing through RAL+. File in person, by post or by email.
• You pay nothing to start. The 70 euros falls on the losing party at the end, or 25 euros each if it settles in mediation.
• Bring your own witnesses on the day, and no more than five.
• Turn up. A missed hearing is treated as withdrawal if you are the claimant and as a confession of the facts if you are the defendant.
• If the claim is worth 2,500.01 euros or more, an appeal exists and will require a lawyer. Below that, the first judgment is final.
• If you are claiming compensation for one of the minor offences in article 9(2), understand that doing so closes off the criminal route for good.

The julgado de paz is the cheapest formal route to a binding civil judgment in Portugal, and the least known. Its weaknesses are real: no expert evidence without a detour to the ordinary court, no appeal on small claims, an online platform that will not take a foreign citizen. Its strength is that a person with a 3,000 euro problem can walk into a registry, describe it out loud, have it written down for them, and be in front of a judge inside a year for a fee they only pay if they lose.

Sources

This guide is written from official Portuguese and EU sources.

• Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa, Lei n.º 78/2001, de 13 de julho, julgados de paz: organização, competência e funcionamento, consolidated text (Portuguese only)
• Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa, Portaria n.º 342/2019, de 1 de outubro, regime de cobrança das taxas devidas nos julgados de paz (Portuguese only)
• Direção-Geral da Política de Justiça, Como funcionam os Julgados de Paz (Portuguese only)