Legislation

1. What is the primary legislation governing registration of title in your system?

The primary legislation governing Portuguese land registration is:

Land Registry Code, approved by Decree-law No. 224/84, 6th July and its amendments (the last one by the Decree-law No. 125/2013, 30th August, that republished the Code).
Civil Code, Decree Law n. º 47344/66, 25th july, and its amendments
Decree-Law No. 263-A/2007, 23th July, which regulates the special procedure of transmission, encumbrance and immediate registration immovable property in a one stop shop (On the spot house – casa pronta).
Fee regulation, Decree-Law No. 322-A/2001, 14th December.

2. Are there specific rules and forms for registration directly provided for in statute under secondary legislation?

There are specific rules and forms for registration directly provided for in statute under secondary legislation, such as:

Regulation applications for land registration – Ordinance 621/2008, July 18.
Regulation applications for land registration online – Order 1535/2008, December 30.
Regulation of permanent certificate of land registration – Ordinance 1513/2008, December 23.
Regulation of land registration certificates fees – Ordinance 622/2008, July 18.

3. How often do changes arise in property/conveyancing legislation and registration legislation respectively?

In the past few years the changes have been relatively frequent as the land registry is being modernized, in order to improve service levels.