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604/95 AI generated

Portuguese Constitutional Court upheld Article 87 of Road Code as constitutional after reclassifying minor traffic violations.

Case Number 604/95
Court / Authority
Jurisdiction Portugal (PT)
Outcome Allowed / Granted
Open official source Machine-readable Markdown (.md)

Legislator summary

AI generated

The Constitutional Court dismissed the preliminary question raised by the Public Prosecutor and upheld the constitutionality of Article 87 of the Road Code. The Court determined that the article merely reclassified certain offenses from contraventions to infractions without derogating from the fundamental rights protected in the original 1990 Decree-Law. Consequently, the Court granted the appeal, revoked the lower decision, and ordered the application of the new interpretation consistent with the Constitution.

Legislator headnote

AI generated

Art. 87 of the Road Code; Art. 1, 2, and 4 of the 1990 Decree-Law: The Court held that reclassifying minor traffic violations as infractions does not violate constitutional rights, as it merely changes the penalty regime without altering the underlying legal nature of the acts.

Keywords

AI generated
Road Code Article 87 Constitutional Reclassification Traffic Violations Penalty Constitutional Compatibility Infraction vs Contravention Decree-Law 124/90 Preliminary Question Dismissal

Cited Legislation

AI generated
Article 87 of the Road Code
Decree-Law No. 124/90 of April 14
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic
AI generated
TC_19960144
Portuguese Constitutional Court upheld road code article 87 as constitutional when interpreted to punish infractions as minor offenses.
207/95
Portuguese Constitutional Court upheld Article 87 of Road Code as constitutional after reinterpreting penalty levels.
258/87
Portuguese Constitutional Court dismisses unconstitutionality appeal after Public Prosecutor withdraws it citing changed legal requirements.
259/87
Constitutional court dismisses public prosecution appeal after prosecutor withdraws due to changed legal requirements.
TC_19960244
Portuguese Constitutional Court upheld road code article 87 as constitutional and not derogating prior laws.

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Full text

Acórdão 745/95

ACÓRDÃO 745/95

Processo nº 604/95

1ª Secção

Relator: Conselheiro Tavares da Costa

Acordam na 1ª Secção do Tribunal Constitucional:

Nos presentes autos de recurso, em que é recorrente o Ministério Público e recorrido A., pelos fundamentos dos Acórdãos deste Tribunal nºs. 608/95 e 649/95, de 3 e 12 de Novembro último, respectivamente, de que se juntam cópias, decide-se

a) desatender a questão prévia suscitada pelo Ministério Público;

b) não julgar inconstitucional a norma do artigo 87º do Código da Estrada, aprovado pelo Decreto-Lei nº 114/94, de 3 de Maio, interpretada no sentido de não ter implicado derrogação dos artigos1º, 2º e 4º, nºs. l e 2, alínea a), do Decreto-Lei nº 124/90, de 14 de Abril, mas antes no de apenas ter passado a punir como contra-ordenação as infracções que, naquele decreto-lei, constituíam contravenção;

c) conceder provimento ao recurso, revogando a decisão recorrida, que deve ser reformulada por forma a nela aplicar o artigo 87º do Código da Estrada, com a interpretação aqui julgada conforme à Constituição.

Lisboa, 19 de Dezembro de 1995

Alberto Tavares da Costa

Vitor Nunes de Almeida

Armindo Ribeiro Mendes

Antero Monteiro Diniz

Maria Fernanda Palma

Maria Assunção Esteves

José Manuel Cardoso da Costa