Report on Portugal

This chapter relates to the procedural position of third parties in Portugal. Throughout this paper, it will be discussed who are the main characters of the Portuguese criminal procedure and who are the people who may intervene in the proceedings and in what extent. The Portuguese system has some specificities that are not common in other systems, so it will be addressed how certain third parties can really impact in the proceedings. Besides the intervention of the third parties in the Portuguese criminal proceedings and in what extent they can influence such proceedings, it will also be explained how their rights are safeguarded, the existing measures in relation to them and their global impact in the proceedings.