More Than 27,700 Cases Had Waited Over Four Years in Portugal's Lower Courts by the End of 2024, Most of Them Insolvencies
One in ten first-instance cases had been pending for more than four years, a survey by the judges' council, the CSM, finds. Lisboa Norte fared worst, and almost 164,000 debt enforcement cases had also passed four years.
More than one in ten cases before Portugal's first-instance courts had been waiting over four years at the end of 2024, according to a national survey by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura (CSM), the body that governs the country's judges. The council presented the findings on 13 October and published the full report (in Portuguese), which ECO first reported on 14 October.
On 31 December 2024 the courts held 27,705 cases older than four years, out of 260,450 pending: 10.64 percent. The CSM stresses that age alone does not prove a court is at fault. Expert reports, trouble serving papers on a party, requests sent abroad and procedural side disputes can all stretch a case.
Insolvencies lead, Lisbon Norte fares worst
Commercial courts carried the largest share, with 13,268 old cases, followed by civil courts with 8,193. By type, insolvencies led with 10,862, ahead of ordinary civil actions (3,079) and inventories (2,658), the court procedure used to divide an inheritance or a couple's property. Insolvencies alone made up 39 percent of the four-year backlog.
The council explains why insolvencies linger: once a court declares someone insolvent, the case counts as closed in the official statistics, yet selling the assets and paying creditors can continue for years. The survey therefore measured how long these files stayed open in the court registry. Readers facing their own debts can find the procedure set out in our guide to personal insolvency.
Lisbon's district held the most old cases in absolute terms, 5,578, or 12.15 percent of its caseload. The Lisboa Norte district had the highest share, at 23.86 percent. The lowest were Porto Este (5.54 percent), Braga (6.82 percent) and Viana do Castelo (7.35 percent).
Debt recovery cases counted separately
Enforcement cases, in which a creditor uses the courts to recover a debt, were counted on their own because most are run by private enforcement agents rather than judges. There were 163,797 enforcement cases older than four years, half of all such cases nationwide; enforcement agents held 157,494 of them, or 96.15 percent. In the Porto district 81.40 percent of enforcement cases had passed four years, and in Lisbon 67.08 percent. The CSM calls the number "excessive" and wants a review of how agents close these files.
Appeal courts and foreign judgments
In the five appeal courts (Tribunais da Relação), 378 cases had waited more than a year for a decision, 6.77 percent of their caseload, ranging from 10.97 percent in Lisbon to 2.50 percent in Coimbra. Most of them, 286, were requests to recognise a foreign court decision so that it takes effect in Portugal. These come straight to the appeal courts and often need papers served abroad. Immigrants recognising a divorce granted elsewhere go through this route, as our guide to foreign divorce recognition explains. At the Supreme Court of Justice, 60 cases had waited more than a year, 10.73 percent of its 559 pending cases.
The data problem
The council warns that Citius, the courts' case management system, cannot fully guarantee reliable statistics. Results shift with the date they are pulled, reopened cases can erase earlier decisions from the count, and registries record events differently. The figures are a management tool, not official statistics. The CSM recommends standardising registry records, analysing case length stage by stage, specific studies of insolvencies and enforcement, and repeating the survey regularly.
