Portugal: Religious Rules and State Law

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between religious rules and State law in the Portuguese legal system. Sociological data concerning religious diversity and a brief description of the Portuguese constitutional and legal system of State/Religion relations (which can be labeled as a model of non-identification with cooperation), are provided in the Introduction, where the authors also discuss the meaning to be given to “religious rules”. In a second moment, different fields of intersection between religious rules or religiously enacted rules and State law, namely in the domain of family law, are identified. A special focus is given to the relevance of Canon law, due to a tradition of cooperation between the Portuguese state and the Catholic Church through Concordats. Finally, adjudication issues, concerning the relation between civil and religious jurisdictions, are discussed. The authors conclude that the Portuguese legal system is religion-friendly and reveals openness to religious pluralism.