Court costs in Portugal: what going to court really costs

The three parts of Portuguese court costs

When people talk about what a case costs, they usually mean only the court fee. But the Regulamento das Custas Processuais (RCP), Portugal's court-costs regulation, defines costs as the sum of three parts (article 3.º)¹: the taxa de justiça, paid by whoever moves the case forward; the charges (encargos), the expenses the case generates along the way, such as expert reports, translations or diligences; and the custas de parte, the final settlement in which the losing party compensates the winner for what it advanced.

This guide focuses on the first part, the only one that can be calculated upfront, and explains how the other two enter the bill at the end.

The court fee and the unit of account

The taxa de justiça is due for each procedural push: filing an action, contesting it, appealing, applying for an injunção or for enforcement (article 6.º of the RCP)¹. It is not set directly in euros but in units of account (UC).

The UC should be updated every year in line with the IAS, but successive State Budgets have frozen it: article 242.º of Law 73-A/2025, of 30 December, kept the UC at €102 for 2026². In practice, going to court costs the same in euros as in previous years.

The table for court actions (Table I-A)

In an ordinary court action, each party's fee comes from Table I-A, based on the value of the action¹:

Each party pays its fee with its first pleading: the claimant with the initial claim, the defendant with the defence. Appeals use Table I-B, exactly half of these values, calculated on the part of the decision being challenged (the sucumbência) when it can be determined.

The fee for actions can be paid in two equal instalments: the first with the pleading and the second within 10 days of the notice of the final hearing (articles 13.º and 14.º)¹. If the case ends earlier, the second instalment never falls due: that is what happens, for example, in actions that end undefended or before a hearing is scheduled (article 14.º-A).

Above €275,000: the remainder

In cases worth more than €275,000, the initial 16 UC fee grows by 3 UC per €25,000 or fraction above the ceiling. This remainder is not paid at the door: it is settled in the final account of the case, and the judge can waive it with reasons, weighing the complexity of the case and the parties' conduct (article 6.º, n.º 7)¹. If the case ends before the evidence phase concludes, the remainder is not due.

An example: an action worth €430,500 pays 16 UC (€1,632) upfront; the €155,500 excess corresponds to 7 fractions of €25,000, so 21 UC (€2,142) more at the end, €3,774 in total.

Injunções and enforcement: the Table II fees

To collect debts backed by a contract or invoice, the injunção is the cheap route: 0.5 UC (€51) up to €5,000, 1 UC (€102) up to €15,000 and 1.5 UC (€153) above that¹. If the debtor does not oppose, the request becomes enforceable without a trial; if it does, the case proceeds as a court action and the amount already paid is credited against the action's fee. Before filing, it is worth also working out the debt's late-payment interest, which is added to the claim.

In enforcement, the fee depends on who carries out the steps. In the normal case, with an enforcement agent, you pay 0.25 UC (€25.50) up to €30,000 and 0.5 UC (€51) above; the enforcement agent's own fees are a separate cost. When the steps fall to a court bailiff, the fee rises to 2 UC or 4 UC.

Who pays in the end: the costs order and the custas de parte

During the case each party advances its own fee and the charges it requests. At the end, the judgment orders the losing party to pay costs, in the proportion it lost. That is where the custas de parte come in: the winner files its costs note and receives from the loser the court fees it paid (in proportion to the win), the charges it bore, plus 50% of the sum of both parties' court fees, as compensation for its lawyer's fees (article 26.º)¹.

In other words: an outright winner recovers the entry cost and part of the lawyer's bill; the loser pays its own side and the opponent's. That risk is part of the decision to litigate, and a reason to weigh the value of the claim carefully before filing. In an employment dispute, for example, it pays to know first how much the severance pay you will claim is actually worth.

Exemptions and legal aid

Article 4.º of the RCP exempts certain people and cases from costs¹. And anyone without the economic means can apply for legal aid (apoio judiciário) at Social Security under Law 34/2004: the forms of support include a full waiver or phased payment of the court fee and charges, and the appointment of a lawyer. Eligibility depends on a means test on household income; recipients of minimum social benefits, such as the RSI, normally qualify.

What your case costs

To get the court fee for an action, appeal, injunção or enforcement at 2026 values, use the court fees calculator: it shows the fee in UC and in euros, the two instalments and the remainder above €275,000. The official values are in the tables annexed to the RCP¹ and the UC value in the State Budget²; for European small claims there is an official summary on the European e-Justice Portal³.