In short: Law No. 34/2026 takes effect on 1 September and carries no transitional rule — it applies to investigations and charges already under way. Deadlines shorten, decisions cease to be appealable and fines become available for applications deemed dilatory. This note maps what changes, with the provisions to hand, and what is worth dealing with before the 1st.
It catches those already charged, not only new cases
The law amends the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Code and the Court Fees Regulation and says nothing about application in time. Absent a transitional rule, the general principle of immediate application of procedural law governs: someone formally under investigation since 2023, or charged in July 2026, becomes subject to the new rules from 1 September. There is, therefore, no adaptation period. Ref.: Law No. 34/2026 of 27 July, Official Gazette No. 143/2026, Series I, Articles 2, 3, 4 and 7.
Nullities of the investigation now have a fixed moment
The new wording of Article 120(3) of the Code provides that nullities arising during the investigation must be raised in the application for judicial investigation or, where there is none, by the end of the period for applying for it. They can no longer be kept back for trial or appeal. Anyone wishing to contest the regularity of a search, a seizure or an interception must do so at that point, failing which the defect is cured. On the same lines, Article 399(2) requires invalidities of orders to be raised first before the court that made them, before any appeal.
Fewer decisions open to appeal
The new Article 85-A imposes on the presiding judge a duty of case management and procedural adaptation and makes decisions taken thereunder unappealable, save where fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees are at stake. Article 340(5) makes the order for the taking of evidence unappealable, except where prohibited evidence is involved. The combined effect is familiar to litigators: the space for correction moves up to the appeal against the final decision, which makes it essential to place on the record, clearly, everything one may wish to argue later.
The cost of applying: fines of up to some 10,200 euros
Article 521-A is added to the Code, allowing the judge to fine the defendant, the private prosecutor, the civil party or the affected person between 2 and 100 units of account — up to some 10,200 euros — where they perform manifestly unfounded acts intended or apt to obstruct or delay the proceedings. Where there is a second such order in the same proceedings for acts performed through a lawyer, a certified copy is sent to the Bar Association. Article 426-B adds a brake on abusive delay: the reporting judge may refer the application to the panel, which orders the file to be severed and the proceedings to continue, the contested decision being deemed final. The Lisbon Regional Council of the Bar Association publicly criticised these solutions on 27 July and announced it would ask the Ombudsman to seek abstract review; up to 27 August there is no public record of proceedings having reached the Constitutional Court.
Evidence and victim statements: what changes at trial
The period for filing a defence becomes 20 days (Article 311-B(1)) and the defendant ability to object to the reading of his earlier statements in certain cases is repealed (Article 356(5)). Article 356(7) maintains the ban on reading the testimony of a witness who has validly refused to testify, but expressly excepts statements by victims of domestic violence or with especially vulnerable victim status and those given under Articles 271 and 294. The practical consequence in domestic violence cases: the right to challenge evidence is exercised at the future-memory hearing, not at trial. In the Criminal Code, Article 120 now suspends limitation where the hearing or the investigative debate is interrupted or adjourned because of a change of defence counsel.
What to deal with before 1 September
Three concrete checks: confirm whether any nullities of the investigation remain unraised and whether the Article 120(3) period is still running; review the defence filing calendar in the light of the 20 days; and, where applications or incidents are being prepared, weigh case by case the risk under Article 521-A. In addition, Law No. 35/2026, published on the same day and also in force on 1 September, places tax offences, fraud in obtaining subsidies and serious road crime among the investigation priorities for 2026-2028, with an extended summary procedure — which compresses reaction time further still. Ref.: Law No. 35/2026 of 27 July, Articles 2, 5 and 6.
This note is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For an analysis of your specific situation, please contact us.