Divorce Now Possible in Portugal

On May 27, 1975, Portugal published a new divorce law. For the first time in nearly thirty-five years, persons married by the Roman Catholic Church can obtain a divorce in Portugal.

Back in 1940 the Portuguese government and the Vatican signed a concordat in which the government agreed to insert in its laws a clause that would prohibit divorce for anyone married by the Catholic Church. The result was Article 1790 of the Civil Code, which declared it impossible to “dissolve by divorce Catholic marriages celebrated since August 1, 1940.”

This law prevented individuals married by the Catholic Church from getting a divorce even when their mates committed adultery or took up living sexually with other partners. But rather than keeping couples together, Article 1790 drove thousands of Portuguese married persons to enter consensual arrangements with individuals other than their marriage mates. Obviously, the results of such unions were undesirable. For one thing, children born from consensual relationships were viewed as illegitimate.

The new divorce law, No. 261/75, abolishes Article 1790 of the Civil Code mentioned above. Accordingly, “Catholic marriage henceforth can be dissolved in the civil courts, in the same terms and on the same basis as a civil marriage can be dissolved.”

Portugal’s new law is a very liberal decree, granting divorce, not only on the grounds of adultery, but even on the basis of mutual consent by both mates. Article 1778 of Portugal’s Civil Code now states that any de facto separation that has lasted more than five consecutive years constitutes grounds for divorce. Interesting, too, is Article 1793, which permits conversion of a legal separation into divorce by a simple written request submitted to the court.