Self-Defence Law in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You live in or are moving to Portugal and want to know when the law allows you to use force.
• You want to know whether you may stop a thief, hold someone for the police, or carry pepper spray.
• You come from a country with "stand your ground" rules and want to know how Portugal differs.

Not for you if: something has already happened and you want to report it. Read Reporting a Crime in Portugal instead.

Portuguese law lets you use force to stop an attack on yourself, someone else, or your property, but only while the attack is happening, and only as much force as you need to stop it. Once the attacker runs off, the right to self-defence ends.

If you go too far out of genuine fear, you may not be punished. Most "self-defence" items sold online, such as non-approved pepper spray, batons, and stun guns, are a crime to carry. There is no "stand your ground" rule and no "castle doctrine". The rules are in the Penal Code, the Civil Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the weapons law.

The basic rule

Self-defence (legítima defesa) is an act that is a necessary means to repel a current and unlawful attack on interests the law protects, yours or someone else's. Each part of that sentence matters.

An attack. It must come from a person. It can target your body, your freedom, your home, or your property.

Current. The attack must be about to happen, under way, or still going on. When it is over, there is nothing left to defend against. If someone grabs your bag, the attack is current. Once they are running away with it, it is over. Chasing and injuring a fleeing thief is not self-defence.

Unlawful. You cannot claim self-defence against a lawful act, such as a lawful arrest by a police officer.

Necessary means. You may use what is needed to stop the attack, and no more. If shouting would have worked, hitting was not needed. If a push would have worked, a weapon was not needed. Courts judge this from your position at the time, not with hindsight. But they do judge it.

The law does not say you must run away first. In practice, a court may still look at whether you could have avoided the fight when it decides whether your force was necessary.

Defending someone else

The same rule covers defending another person. If you step in to protect a stranger from an attack, you are in the same legal position as if you were defending yourself. The same test of necessity applies.

When you go too far

If you use more force than you needed, the act is unlawful. The court can still reduce the sentence below the normal minimum.

You are not punished at all if you went too far because of fear, panic, or shock that was not blameworthy. Panic at a masked intruder in your bedroom at night is likely to count. Anger at someone who insulted you is not the same thing. Fear can excuse going too far; rage or a wish to punish cannot.

Defending your property

The law allows force to defend property, but within strict limits.

During the attack. The Civil Code allows you to fend off a current, unlawful attack on your property if you cannot do it by normal means. The harm you cause must not be clearly greater than the harm the attack would have caused. Seriously injuring a person to save a phone fails that test.

Getting your property back (direct action). You may use force to protect or recover your own right only if all of these apply:

• the police and courts cannot be reached in time;
• without acting, you would lose the right in practice;
• you do no more than is needed to avoid the loss;
• you do not sacrifice interests greater than the one you protect.

A person's physical safety outweighs a stolen wallet. Running someone over, or seriously hurting them, to get property back is not covered.

If you were wrong. If you believed you were under attack and you were not, you must pay for the damage you caused, unless your mistake was excusable. You can be cleared in the criminal case and still be ordered to pay in a civil case.

Citizen's arrest

Anyone may arrest a person caught in the act (em flagrante delito) of a crime that carries a prison sentence. But you may do so only if the police or a judicial authority are not there and cannot be called in time. If an officer is nearby, or a call would bring one in time, you may not make the arrest.

"Caught in the act" means:

• the crime is being committed, or has just been committed; or
• straight after the crime, someone is chasing the person, or they are found with items or signs that clearly show they just did it.

If you make an arrest, you must hand the person over to the police immediately. Do not hold them, question them, or search them. Holding someone against their will is itself a crime (sequestro), punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine, and more in serious cases.

Two more limits apply:

• For crimes that need a complaint from the victim, such as simple theft and simple assault, the arrest only stands if the victim makes the complaint straight away.
• For crimes that need a private prosecution by the victim, there is no arrest at all. You may only identify the person.

In an emergency, call 112.

Danger that does not come from a person

Different rules apply when the danger is not an attack by a person.

Necessity. You may act to avoid a current danger to your or someone else's interests if:

• you did not create the danger yourself (unless you are protecting someone else);
• what you save is clearly more important than what you sacrifice;
• it is reasonable to expect the other person to bear the loss.

Breaking a car window to rescue a child or a dog from heat on a summer day is the usual example.

Excusable necessity. A person is not to blame for an unlawful act if it was the only way to avoid a current danger to life, physical safety, honour, or freedom. It must also be unreasonable, in the circumstances, to expect them to act differently.

What you may and may not carry

This is where many newcomers get caught out. Items sold openly abroad or online can be a crime to carry here.

Allowed only with a licence (class E). The weapons law puts these in class E:

• pepper spray and other defence sprays approved under EU rules that cannot be mistaken for another weapon or object;
• electric stun devices up to 200,000 volts, with a safety catch, that do not look like another weapon or object;
• factory-made guns that fire only non-metal projectiles, designed to rule out a lethal injury, and approved by an EU country.

You may buy, keep, use, and carry class E items only with a class E licence (licença E), or with certain other weapons licences. The national director of the PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública, the public security police) grants weapons licences. To get a class E licence you must:

• be over 18;
• have full civil rights;
• show a justified need for the licence;
• be of good character;
• have a medical certificate.

Your application must explain why you need it. A general wish to feel safer is unlikely to be enough.

A crime to carry without justification. Carrying any of the following is a crime, punishable by up to four years in prison or a fine of up to 480 days:

• defence sprays that are not class E approved, and gas-firing weapons;
• stun devices that do not meet the class E rules;
• batons, extendable batons, and electric batons;
• flick knives, butterfly knives, stilettos, throwing knives, throwing stars, credit-card knives, and knuckledusters;
• blades disguised as other objects;
• any other blade or object with no clear purpose that could be used as a weapon, if you cannot justify having it.

The same applies to hunting, work, and kitchen knives carried away from their normal place of use, if you cannot justify having them. The last item on the list means that an everyday object kept "just in case", such as a bat in the car with no sporting reason, can be a legal risk.

Crimes committed with a weapon. If a crime is committed while someone involved is carrying certain weapons, the sentence range rises by one third. This can apply even if that weapon is licensed.

Practical points

1. Force is lawful only while the attack is happening. Once the person runs away, stop and call 112.
2. Use the least force that works. Anything beyond what was needed is excess.
3. Fear can excuse going too far; anger cannot.
4. Property does not justify serious harm to a person.
5. Arrest only if the police cannot come in time, and hand the person over at once.
6. Do not carry a "self-defence" item without a licence.

If you are involved in an incident, tell the police what happened and get a lawyer. If you were a victim, see Reporting a Crime in Portugal for how to file a complaint and the deadlines. If someone is hurt, see What to Do in a Medical Emergency in Portugal.

This guide is general information about Portuguese law, not legal advice. If you are involved in a case, speak to a lawyer.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Penal Code (Decreto-Lei n.º 48/95), consolidated to Lei n.º 53/2026: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=109&tabela=leis (article 32 self-defence; 33 excess, special mitigation, no punishment for non-blameworthy disturbance, fear, or fright; 34 right of necessity; 35 excusable necessity; 143 simple assault, complaint required; 158 unlawful detention, up to three years or a fine; 203 theft, complaint required), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Code of Criminal Procedure (Decreto-Lei n.º 78/87), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=199&tabela=leis (article 255 arrest in flagrante delicto by any person only if police cannot be called in time, immediate handover, complaint and private prosecution crimes; article 256 definition of flagrante delicto), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Civil Code (Decreto-Lei n.º 47344/66), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=775&tabela=leis (article 336 direct action; 337 self-defence of person or property, harm not manifestly greater; 338 mistaken belief, duty to compensate unless excusable), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Weapons and Ammunition Law (Lei n.º 5/2006), consolidated to Lei n.º 50/2019: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=692&tabela=leis (article 3 classes A and E, including blades found outside their normal place of use; 9 class E licences; 12 licences granted by the PSP national director; 16 class E licence conditions; 86 offences, up to four years or 480 days' fine, one-third aggravation, weapons counted even if licensed), checked 2 October 2026

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.