The individual enterprise in the law of Portuguese speaking countries

João António Bahia de Almeida Garrett

Keywords

Portuguese speaking countries law; individual entrepreneur; unity of the patrimony; limited business liability; individual limited enterprise; individual company

Abstract

This article focus on a very well-known and debated commercial law theme – the possibility offered to the individual entrepreneur of limiting his business liability to the patrimony of the enterprise – viewed from the perspective of the Portuguese speaking countries’ law. We studied the pertinent legal solutions of the European countries which influenced at most our own law – Germany, France, Italy, Spain – to assess the way those solutions were received in Portugal and then looked to the commercial law of three Portuguese speaking countries – Brazil, Angola, Mozambique – and the Territory of Macau to perceive the similarities and differences between them at this regard. 
And conclude that they share most of it: all of them accept the limited business liability of the individual entrepreneur and most of them already accept the individual company concept.