Portuguese Family Law

Recommended Prerequisites

Fundamental notions of law, General theory of civil law.

Teaching Methods

Lectures and tutorials on the syllabus, in dialogue with the students.

Learning Outcomes

Acquisition by students of knowledge concerning Portuguese family law in general (the concept, sources and general principles), marriage as an act (modalities, requirements and invalidity), marriage as a state (personal effects of marriage), modification and the extinction of the marriage relationship (evolution of the divorce regime, its procedure and its effects), the establishment of filiation (maternity and paternity), the effects of filiation (fundamentally parental responsibilities), and the Law of minors (general ideas on minority and parental responsibilities, adoption and child fostering, system of protection of children and young people in distress). Development of diagnostic and adequate problem-solving skills, critical weighing of legal solutions, and determination and assessment of the interests at stake in the different problems studied here.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

I - Introduction

II - Marriage Law

A. Marriage as an Act

a) Concept and general features

b) Marriage modalities and marriagel systems: secularization and evolution of Portuguese law

c) Material and formal requirements: general ideas

d) Invalidity and putative marriage

B. Marriage as a State

a) General principles

b) Personal effects

c) Patrimonial effects

C. Extinction of the marriage relationship: divorce

a) General principles and legislative developments

b) Divorce by mutual consent

c) Divorce “without consent of one spouse”: causes and procedure

d) Effects of divorce

III - Law of Filiation

A. Establishment of Filiation

a) General ideas

b) Establishment of maternity

c) Establishment of paternity

B. Effects of Filiation

a) General ideas

b) Minors and parental responsibilities

IV - Adoption.

Head Lecturer(s)

Francisco Manuel de Brito Pereira Coelho

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

FRANCISCO PEREIRA COELHO / GUILHERME DE OLIVEIRA, Curso de Direito da Família, Vol. I (5ª ed.), Coimbra, 2016

FRANCISCO PEREIRA COELHO / GUILHERME DE OLIVEIRA, Direito da Família: GUILHERME DE OLIVEIRA, Estabelecimento da filiação, Coimbra, 2019

JORGE DUARTE PINHEIRO, O Direito da Família Contemporâneo, Lisboa, 2018

ELIANA GERSÃO, A criança, a família e o direito, Lisboa, 2014

ROSA MARTINS, Menoridade, (in)capacidade e cuidado parental, Coimbra, 2008

CARLOS PAMPLONA CORTE-REAL / J. SILVA PEREIRA, Direito da Família – Tópicos para uma reflexão crítica, Lisboa, 2011.