CIDP - Centro de Investigação de Direito Privado

Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Private Law

The advent of the Digital Era has changed social, economic and legal structures. The world we now live requires the Law to pay special attention to new issues, not previously encountered. The social relevance of personal data raises questions in the field of personality law, automation and artificial intelligence require the workings of civil liability to be reconsidered and the wide use of e-commerce demands study of online consumer rights. The new reality extends into finance, with a direct impact on investor rights and business funding models.

In addition, automation and artificial intelligence are both tools and challenges in courts. On the one hand, they promise to speed up and facilitate procedural acts, relieving judges, bailiffs and lawyers of repetitive and time-consuming tasks. But at the same time, insofar as they provide autonomous means of decision-making, they raise fundamental questions about the future meaning and nature of adjudication.

Finally, generative artificial intelligence raises relevant challenges in intellectual property law, namely as regards the protection of copyright and even the identity or nature of the author.

These trends and demands are not new. They were the subject of the last research line called Private Law in the Digital Era (PLDE). The current research line arises in the continuation of the work carried out at PLDE, integrating and focusing on the latest technological developments.

New Perspectives of Corporate Governance

The last few years have been marked by profound reforms in Commercial Company and Capital Market Law, especially at the level of European normative instruments.

Following on from the work conducted within the previous line of research called Modernization of Corporate Law, the current line New Perspectives of Corporate Governance will focus its attention on three topics: (i) the impact of technology on company law; (ii) the reformulation of corporate law structures as a result of the new centrality of stakeholder interests; (iii) the impact of ex contractu governance on the company and the limits of of private autonomy in shareholder agreements.

Diversity, Harmonization and Unification of Private Law

The study of Comparative Law studies, including its methodological foundations, is a central theme of CIDP's research activity. The diversity of modern Private Law coexists with a growing effort towards its harmonization and unification, which transcends the European space and is instrumental to the free flow of people, goods, services and capital across borders in a globalised economy.

This research line pays special attention to international instruments, particularly the CISG (which came into force in Portugal at the end of 2021), the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law and other relevant normative acts from the European Parliament and from the Council, which aim to approximate national legal systems in the field of Private Law.

The processes of harmonisation and unification of Private International Law – taken here as the discipline that regulates the international jurisdiction of courts, the determination of the law applicable to cross-border relationships, international judicial cooperation and the recognition of foreign judgments – are also a subject matter of this research line. In Europe and worldwide, Private International Law has known an intense movement towards its harmonisation over the past decades, which has been carried out in particular through European regulations and international conventions, such as the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, in force since 2023.

This research line seeks to study these processes in depth, and in particular their impact over the Portuguese legal system, where rules of Private International Law from domestic, European and international sources coexist, which are not always easy to combine.

In the context of this research line, particular attention will also be devoted to the legal systems of other Portuguese-speaking countries, which maintain a fundamental unity with Portuguese law. To this end, a permanent Lusophone Law Observatory will be set up, and the results of its work will be published internationally.

Foundations of Private Law

This line of research is devoted to the study of the historical, dogmatic and axiological foundations of Private Law, always seeking a deeper understanding of legal systems and their evolution.

The research projects to be developed cover the core areas of common and commercial Private Law, as well as its immediate foundations and instruments (Philosophy of Law and Methodology). It also involves studying the models of adjudication (specially linked with new morphologies of conflicts) including alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

This research line also includes the critical analysis of judicial activity (including its social and economic impact), as well as the survey and systematization of empirical data on that activity.

New Perspectives on Regulation, Compliance and Private Enforcement

The emergence of independent authorities has subverted the classic separation of powers model, which is why they have been endowed with three types of traditionally separate public powers: normative, executive and (para)judicial. Modern independent authorities issue regulations of a general and abstract nature, monitor and inspect the activity of businesses and, finally, impose financial penalties (fines) and ancillary sanctions if they detect offences. In this regard, it is difficult to sustain the classic opposition between administrative law and criminal law, especially since the European Court of Human Rights has consistently held that administrative offences and other typically administrative offences should be considered criminal offences for the purpose of applying Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which enshrines the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. The social context of regulatory law requires a paradigm shift in the application of law and interaction with economic agents. Experience generally points to the advantages of an approach based on the principles of responsive regulation and regulated self-regulation. The balance between the two, however, requires a delicate balance between the requirements of effective regulation and the advantages of collaboration with businesses in the performance of this public law mission. In fact, the risks of this combination are immense and can only be minimised by establishing mechanisms to guarantee the independence and accountability of regulators and to prevent them from being captured by a wide range of interests, from party interests to business interests, which also involves transparency in the revolving doors between the exercise of regulatory functions, government functions and management functions of public, mixed or private companies. A virtuous articulation of responsive regulation with regulated self-regulation cannot ignore another pillar, which is the private enforcement of the law through actions for damages and collective redress brought by consumer representatives and others interested in promoting competition. Damages actions and collective redress often act as natural allies of more effective economic regulation and more efficient self-regulation, reinforcing the attitude of compliance on the part of companies by encouraging the prevention of legal risks that may arise from non-compliance. Any reflection on the intersecting themes of regulation, regulatory compliance and actions for damages and collective protection must value the experience of law in action, calling on the critical mass that accompanies matters of economic regulation and competition defence, adding national experience to the experience of other European countries and the European Union itself, but also to that of other reference legal systems, especially Anglo-Saxon ones, whose practice is inspiring for the European context. This line of research also includes the research project that has been developed in the field of judicial evidence, considering that evidential problems take on new dimensions in the context of the passage of information between regulators, intelligence agencies, criminal police agencies and criminal investigation holders, at the domestic level, but also at the cross-border level and not only in the European context. The research project encompasses the most general aspects of the theory of evidence and the dogmatic aspects of judicial evidence in the various regulated areas of economic activity, thus aiming to contribute to the development of an area of legal thought and practice that suffers from a lack of attention in civil law legal systems, compared to common law countries. It is a research project that involves ongoing articulations and partnerships with foreign research centres, which have already produced results in terms of national and foreign publications and scientific meetings in Portugal and abroad.

Rui Soares Pereira

Graduated (2001), Master (2006) and Doctor (2015), he is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and Guest Assistant Professor at the Military Academy. He has taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Administrative Offenses Law at these institutions, along with other subjects, such as Obligations Law, Civil Procedural Law, Arbitration Law, Commercial Law and Family Law. He conducts research, gives conferences and has written on topics of Private Law, Criminal Law, Procedural Law, Evidence Law and also on topics related to Regulation Law and the use of new technologies and autonomous systems.Author, among others, of the following publications:Direito Sancionatório dos Valores Mobiliários,co-authored with Joana Costa Lopes; Prova, Verdade e Processo, Processo Penal,co-authored with João Gouveia de Caires; Direito das Contra-Ordenações,co-authored with Augusto Silva Dias; Sobre os Pareceres do Conselho Consultivo da PGR,co-authored with Inês Sítima Craveiro; Sobre a Validade de Procedimentos Administrativos Prévios ao Inquérito e de Fases Administrativas - Preliminares no Processo Penal, co-authored withAugusto Silva Dias; O Nexo de Causalidade na Responsabilidade Delitual: Fundamento e Limites do Juízo de Condicionalidade, Pressupostos Filosóficos e Científicos do Nexo de Causalidade, Memória e Presente de Direito da Família, co-authored withMargarida Silva Pereira,and A Responsabilidade por danos não patrimoniais do incumprimento das obrigações no direito civil português.He has participated in the coordination of collective worksin the field ofProbation Law (Prova Penal Teórica e Práticaand Novos Desafios da Prova Penal, 2 volumes),Regulation Law (Law Enforcement, Compliance e Responsabilidade Empresarial, which includes several volumes)andthe relationship between Law and Autonomous Systems (Legal Aspects of Autonomous Systems: A Comparative Approach). Jurisconsult, legal expert, arbitrator and lawyer. He was a lawyer and consultant at the PLMJ Law Firm, deputy to the Minister of the Presidency and Parliamentary Affairs and to the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in the XIX Constitutional Government, and a Fellow at the Foundation for Science and Technology. He is an associate of the IDPCC anda researcher at the CIDPCC, member of the EditorialBoard and Peer Reviewer of the journalAnatomia do Crime, editor in the area of Evidence Law for the Revista de Concorrência e Regulação and Peer Reviewer of the Revista da FDUL. Member of the ATFD and the Portuguese Philosophy Society, the Portuguese Arbitration Association, member of the Portuguese-German Association of Jurists and member of the Association of Catholic Jurists.

Postgraduate Courses

I Curso de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Igualdade e Género

O programa que se apresenta, ancorado num Corpo Docente altamente qualificado, procura identificar, com transversalidade e multidisciplinaridade, matérias essenciais à aquisição de conhecimentos e competências que se consideram fundamentais numa especialização sobre Igualdade e Género, procurando suscitar a reflexão, a crítica e o apetrechamento para o confronto profissional, cada vez mais frequente, incontornável, com as questões que o tema suscita. A formação em Género e Direito da Igualdade é hoje, reconhecidamente, um motor de mudança social e cultural, que fomenta modos de atuação inclusivos, equitativos e tolerantes no mundo global em que vivemos. Num total de 26 sessões, o Curso dirige-se a licenciados em Direito e, igualmente, noutras áreas, que procurem efetuar um aprofundamento relevante destes temas, através de uma metodologia teórico-prática.

1 Abr > 1 Jul 2026

Postgraduate Courses

I Curso de Pós-Graduação em Direito da FIliação e das Responsabilidades Parentais

O Direito da Filiação e das Responsabilidades Parentais é um dos domínios mais sensíveis doDireito da Família: reflete, no seu conteúdo, as profundas transformações sociais, económicas, políticas e culturais que sedimentam uma nova visão da família e da criança, em contexto relacional. Questões como a filiação biológica e socioafetiva, os avanços das técnicas de reprodução medicamente assistida, a multiparentalidade, a igualdade de direitos entre filhos, bem como a proteção do superior interesse da criança são hoje centrais no debate jurídico e social. O I Curso de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Filiação e das Responsabilidades Parentais proporciona um plano formativo especializado que, encarando os temas clássicos do Direito da filiação, não desconsidera os problemas e desafios da atualidade, estabelecendo o nexo adequado entre o regime substantivo e o adjetivo. Através de uma abordagem interdisciplinar, com um Corpo Docente de reconhecido mérito, pretende criar-se uma plataforma de reflexão crítica, que reafirma um Direito da Família edificado a partir das fronteiras da igualdade e da proteção dos direitos fundamentais. Num total de 36 sessões, o Curso dirige-se a licenciados em Direito e, igualmente, noutras áreas, que procurem efetuar um aprofundamento relevante destes temas, através de uma metodologia teórico-prática.

2 Abr > 6 Ago 2026

Intensive Courses

IV Curso Intensivo em Contratos Comerciais

Os contratos comerciais representam, na actualidade, a mais importante ferramenta jurídica na constituição, organização e exercício da actividade empresarial. Com efeito, as situações jurídicas mais relevantes concernentes à vida das empresas são tituladas por contratos mercantis cuja celebração viabiliza os normais processos de produção, circulação e distribuição de bens e serviços no mercado. Não por acaso, as necessidades específicas da actividade empresarial têm vindo a requerer regulações autónomas de contratos civis e, inclusivamente, categorias contratuais privativas.O IV Curso Intensivo de Contratos Comerciais propõe-se, assim, transmitir uma perspectiva actualizada da contratação mercantil. O foco principal está concentrado nos contratos de distribuição e de intermediação, bem como na compra e venda comercial e nos negócios sobre o estabelecimento, oferecendo ainda sessões sobre outros temas nucleares, como o mútuo e a abertura de crédito, o seguro, o transporte de mercadorias e os “penhores marcianos”.

8 Abr > 3 Jun 2026

Intensive Courses

IX Curso Intensivo sobre Incumprimento do Contrato

O Curso Intensivo sobre o Incumprimento do Contrato é um curso que pretende proporcionar uma formação abrangente e holística sobre o incumprimento do contrato. Este curso oferece a reflexão sobre as várias modalidades de incumprimento e dos seus fundamentos, como a inexigibilidade, a impossibilidade e a alteração das circunstâncias. O curso promove a análise de temas clássicos conexos ao incumprimento como o relativo ao conceito de justa causa na resolução do contrato, o da interpretação do contrato, e o tema do ressarcimento e da restituição decorrentes do incumprimento do contrato, sem descurar qual tem sido o entendimento dos tribunais judiciais neste âmbito. Ademais, o curso oferece o tratamento das consequências decorrentes do incumprimento do contrato no processo de insolvência, aborda as dificuldades do cumprimento na compra e venda das empresas, expõe as especificidades do incumprimento de contratos públicos, dos acordos parassociais, dos contratos de arrendamento, do contrato-promessa, dos smart-contracts e dos contratos de financiamento.