YEAR 2025 No 2 Volume 37

ISSN 2182-9845

2025 No 2 Volume 37
EDITORIAL

Francisco Liberal Fernandes

The announced strike by public prosecutors
A greve anunciada dos magistrados do Ministério Público

Convocada pela direcção do Sindicato dos Magistrados do Ministério Público (SMMP), realizou-se no dia 21 de Junho de 2025 uma Assembleia Geral Extraordinária, em que foi decidido autorizar a direcção do SMMP a convocar dois dias de greve geral para os dias 9 e 10 de Julho, acrescidos de um dia de greve nas Procuradorias Gerais Regionais de Lisboa e Porto (nos dias 11 e 14 de Julho, respectivamente) e um dia de greve (15 de Julho) nas Procuradorias Gerais Regionais de Évora e Coimbra. Para além disso, a mesma direcção ficou autorizada a adoptar, por tempo indeterminado, quaisquer formas de luta, inclusivamente a convocação de greve, após o dia 1 de Setembro de 2025.

Investment in startups in Brazil: methods, risks and limitations

Alexandre Ferreira de Assumpção Alves / Bernardo Rocha da Motta

Startups; investments; smaller-sized corporations; information asymmetry; regulation; capital market.

First, the article analyzes investments in startups for financing the company in any legal structure. Based on the legal characterization of a startup, the instruments provided for the provision of resources to boost economic activity are examined, with a focus on investor protection and the non-inclusion of invested amounts in the share capital, as well as the risks and uncertainties that the development of the startup may bring. The methodology is mostly deductive, starting from the understanding that regulatory modulation of the rules pertinent to market access is necessary so that startups can integrate their business structure, and finally infer that such modulations may result in vulnerabilities for investors.

Some considerations regarding Regulation (EU) 2020/848 of the European Parliament and the Council, of 20 of May of 2015, on insolvency proceedings (recast) and, in particular, to the main and secondary insolvency proceedings and also a brief analysis of the provisions in the Portuguese Insolvency and Corporate Recovery Code (CIRE) concerning the same subject

Elisabete Assunção

European Private International Law; Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015; cross-border insolvencies; main and secondary insolvency proceedings; case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the Portuguese higher courts; conflict rules in CIRE.

This article aims to analyse, albeit briefly, the main and secondary insolvency proceedings in light of Regulation (EU) n.º 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015, on insolvency proceedings, by studying the provisions of the Regulation on this subject and some case law, not only of the Court of Justice of the European Union, but also of the Portuguese High Courts on the same subject. After a short introduction to the aforementioned Regulation and its antecedents, with curtly references to cross-border insolvencies, we will address the provisions of the Regulation regarding the subject of main and secondary insolvency proceedings, mentioning, whenever relevant, the case law.

The ‘Programmed Obsolescence’ of Labor Law: Digital platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence systems

David Falcão

Digital platforms; algorithms; artificial intelligence; robotisation; Labor Law.

The Digital Revolution has triggered the need to rethink traditional Labor Law. The obvious inability of this branch of the law to produce adequate responses to the new challenges resulting from the massification of the work on digital platforms, the gradual transfer of decision-making to algorithms and other artificial intelligence systems, as well as the robotisation of countless complex tasks, has led to the adoption of a series of legislative measures, both at national and european level. However, even though the first steps have been taken, in our opinion these measures are still insufficient to protect workers' interests.

The scope of the derogatory power of the legal regime of commercial contracts of Mozambique

Almeida Machava

Sale and purchase contract; revocation power; commercial contracts legal regime; lex specialis principle; civil code; Mozambique.

This essay analyzes the scope of the revocation power of the Legal Regime of Commercial Contracts of Mozambique, approved by Decree-Law No. 3/2022, of 25 May. It investigates, in particular, the meaning and scope of the final part of paragraph 3 of article 146 of that Legal Regime, which establishes the scope of application of the legal regime of the commercial sale and purchase contract, in view of the general principles and rules on the mutability of legal norms, in order to know what is its effect on the general regime of the sale and purchase contract contained in articles 874 et seq. of the Mozambican Civil Code.

Thoughts concerning the copyright (patrimonial and moral) of the author of a work of architecture - Building project for a building intended to house a commercial establishment

J. P. Remédio Marques

Copyright; architectural projects; originality; infringement; injunction for infringement; Security deposit.

Architectural projects for buildings (or commercial premises) can be protected by copyright. There must, however, exist an original subject matter, in the sense of being the author’s own intellectual creation. Second, classification as a work is reserved to the elements that are the expression of such creation. However, when the realisation of a subject matter has been dictated by technical considerations, rules or other constraints, which have left no room for creative freedom, that subject matter cannot be regarded as possessing the originality required for it to constitute a work. An arquitectural project that stands out from the mass of everyday construction work, and is therefore worthy of copyright protection, is more likely to be found in representative buildings (such as castles, monuments) than in purely functional buildings.

Online platforms under the Digital Services Act: From inertia to liability for third-party content

Ana Catarina Pinho Moreira

Online platforms; illegal content; civil liability; Digital Services Act; exemptions from liability; due diligence obligations. 

This study aims to address, under a european and national perspective, the issue of civil liability of online platforms for illegal content posted by their users. Initially, the concept of online platforms and the evolution of their liability, as intermediary service providers, are presented. Next, the european framework of the topic is outlined, in accordance with the Digital Services Act, recently enacted. It is noted that the premises underlying the new regulation remain unchanged and unquestioned, preserving the conditional exemptions from liability and the no general obligation to monitor content. The novelties introduced by this new regulation are reviewed and the ways it sought to eliminate the shortcomings of the previous legislation are noted.

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adaptation of the rules of non-contractual civil liability to Artificial Intelligence - access to evidence on high-risk artificial intelligence systems

Fernando Silva Pereira

Artificial intelligence; high-risk; non-contractual culpable liability; disclosure of evidence.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have approved a proposal for a Directive aimed at adapting national procedural and civil liability rules in the case of compensation actions related to damage caused by artificial intelligence systems. This Directive establishes common rules on the disclosure of evidence about high-risk artificial intelligence systems (cf. Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 13, 2024) and on the burden of proof in the case of actions for damages relating to non-contractual liability brought before national courts for damage caused by an artificial intelligence system. In this article we look at the problem of access to evidence, which is regulated in Article 3 of this Directive.

Beyond traditional frameworks: women, law, and climate change Insights from the “Women and Climate Change: Co-Creation for a Fair Transition” conference

Ioanna Daphne Giannoulatou / Asimina Tsalpatourou

Women; climate change; law; co-creation; science communication; public engagement.

The article presents insights from the October 2024 conference “Women and Climate Change: Co-Creation for a Fair Transition” held at Athens Law Faculty. It examines how gendered vulnerabilities to climate change intersect with legal, social, and political structures and highlights the legal and participatory tools needed for a fair transition. While anchored in the conference’s proceedings, the article extends the discussion by analysing the role of legal frameworks, public engagement and creative methodologies in promoting environmental justice for women. It argues that law—when paired with inclusive communication—can become a powerful tool for bridging the gap between legal protections and climate change.

Book review of ECKART J. BRÖDERMANN, Principios UNIDROIT sobre los Contratos Comerciales Internacionales. Comentario artículo por artículo, Valencia, Tirant Lo Blanch, 2024, traducción coordinada por Christian F. Zinser Cieslik y Pedro Mendoza Montano (originally published as ECKART J. BRÖDERMANN, UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. An Article-by-Article Commentary, 2nd edn, The Netherlands, Kluwer Law International, 2023)

Sergio García Long

UNIDROIT; UPICC; contracts; arbitration; internacional commerce.

Why is the translation from English to Spanish of Professor Brödermann's book by Professors Zinser Cieslik and Mendoza Montano important? Because, as a primary purpose, it allows to democratize legal knowledge in the Hispanic world of Latin America and Spain, and in particular, because it promotes education among undergraduate students in Latin America, which generates an inclusive effect in a region where legal education is still limited, fragmented and defective.