Extradition Lawyer in Coimbra: Court and Local Procedure

Which Coimbra court and prosecutor control the file?

The court publishes a 4th and a 5th criminal section. Under article 15 of Law 65/2003, an EAW goes to the Relação for the person's domicile or, absent a domicile, the area where the person was located on the date the warrant was issued. Under article 49 of Law 144/99, extradition goes to the Relação of the district where the person resides or is found at the time of the request. Obtain the case number and actual assigned court from the defence lawyer; neither the arrest place nor a prison address is definitive. The Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Coimbra is the regional prosecution service associated with this court, not the court itself. In ordinary extradition the Minister of Justice has a separate preliminary decision role under articles 46–48 of Law 144/99; an intra-EU EAW does not have that stage. Law 87/2021 added articles 78-A to 78-G to Law 144/99, applying EAW procedures with necessary adaptations to the UK and Iceland/Norway surrender agreements. They are not ordinary intra-EU warrants. National procedure is covered in the Portugal country guide.

Local institutions to contact, not assumed detention locations

The court and regional prosecutor are both based at Palácio da Justiça, Rua da Sofia, but they have distinct telephone numbers and email addresses. The Estabelecimento Prisional de Coimbra is a published prison, not an automatic holding place for people detained on international warrants. Ask counsel to verify the custody authority and precise facility before arranging travel. Do not infer an office or local lawyer associated with this website from these institutional details.

First 72 hours: an action plan, not a legal deadline

The following first 72 hours are a practical checklist, not one statutory 72-hour deadline. For an EAW, article 18 of Law 65/2003 requires immediate notice to the prosecutor, presentation for questioning as soon as possible, and a hearing before the reporting judge within 48 hours of arrest; the judge reviews the validity and continuation of detention and possible alternative measures. Article 17 ensures defence assistance and a free suitable interpreter when Portuguese is not understood. Under article 19, when the Relação cannot hold the custody hearing, a first-instance judge at its seat has a limited role before the case returns to the Relação. In conventional extradition, article 53 of Law 144/99 requires presentation to the prosecutor within 48 hours after detention and a judicial hearing with counsel. Provisional arrests under articles 62–64 have further conditions and separate clocks. A 48-hour hearing is not a 48-hour final surrender decision.

A Coimbra EAW: objection, consent and detention clocks

In an EAW proceeding, article 21 of Law 65/2003 provides for opposition at the hearing on identity or legal grounds for refusal; the court may grant additional preparation time when necessary. Article 22 ordinarily calls for a reasoned court decision within five days of the hearing. Article 26 sets overall targets of 10 days from consent, or 60 days from arrest without consent, with a justified further 30 days after notification of the issuing authority. Article 30 sets different detention limits: 60 days without the Relação decision, 90 where that decision is appealed, and 150 if there is a constitutional appeal; release from detention does not necessarily terminate the warrant. Consent under article 20 is personal, documented and generally irrevocable; it ends the contested execution procedure. A separate statement about waiver of speciality protection must never be assumed from silence.

A conventional extradition: eight-day written opposition

In ordinary extradition, article 55 of Law 144/99 allows the defence eight days following the hearing to submit a written, reasoned opposition and evidence, with a statutory limit of ten witnesses. Under article 52, detention cannot simply continue unchanged if the Relação has not decided within 65 days from detention; a conditional extension of up to 25 days may apply when non-custodial measures are unavailable. Appeals and provisional-arrest proceedings have separate limits. Do not use the EAW hearing objection as a substitute for the eight-day written extradition opposition. The detailed refusal grounds are addressed in the Portugal remedies guide.

Appeals to the Supreme Court are not interchangeable

The Supremo Tribunal de Justiça hears statutory appeals from Coimbra in both tracks, but not on one identical deadline. For conventional extradition, article 49(3) of Law 144/99 permits an appeal only against the final decision; article 58 provides 10 days to appeal, and an appeal from an extradition grant suspends its effect under article 49(4). For an EAW, article 24 of Law 65/2003 permits appeals against certain detention measures and the final decision within five days from notification, or from the oral pronouncement recorded in the hearing minutes. Counsel must identify the actual ruling and how service occurred. Constitutional review and an urgent unlawful-detention procedure have distinct admissibility rules; neither automatically replaces the statutory appeal.

What do Coimbra and Supreme Court judgments actually establish?

Published Coimbra cases give concrete but limited guidance. In 13/23.4YRCBR (22 March 2023), the court refused an EAW concerning failure to return from semi-liberty because, on those facts, the Portuguese offence of escape and the necessary double criminality were absent. This is not a general exemption for residence or every escape warrant. In 7/25.5YRCBR, the court allowed a Brazilian extradition request involving a semi-open custodial sentence under the CPLP convention; counsel should obtain the complete Brazilian judgment and treaty. The published judgment metadata and chronology conflict as to its date, so this page does not rely on a precise decision date. In 39/26.6YRCBR (29 April 2026), Coimbra refused execution of a particular UK request because applying a broader nationality surrender regime introduced on 1 January 2026 to an earlier warrant would be more adverse to the person. The issue turns on nationality, the warrant date and the treaty notifications, not nationality alone. In 219/25.1YRPRT.S1 (16 December 2025), the Supreme Court treated a missing written Portuguese translation of a UK warrant as a procedural irregularity cured when not challenged in time in that case; it also addressed the then-applicable nationality notification. Neither ruling creates an automatic translation-based release or a permanent UK nationality bar. These judgments must be read with the applicable statute and checked for subsequent controlling decisions.

A comparison matters before advancing a nationality or transition objection. In 370/26.0YRLSB-5 (10 March 2026), the Lisbon Court of Appeal allowed surrender under a UK warrant issued on 17 November 2023, after an arrest in January 2026; the Coimbra decision 39/26.6YRCBR reached a different result on the temporal issue. The Lisbon judgment is not an appeal ruling binding Coimbra, but its different outcome prevents treating the Coimbra reasoning as an automatic rule. Counsel should compare the precise grounds and seek any subsequent Supreme Court decision.

A later Coimbra decision, 191/26.0YRCBR (16 September 2026), dealt with a Brazilian request and a pending application for international protection. It held that Article 48 of Law 27/2008 can suspend execution of the final extradition decision while that application is under examination, without halting the judicial extradition proceedings themselves. Filing an asylum application is not an automatic refusal of extradition. Counsel must track the separate protection procedure and the extradition filings.

Tracing detention and arranging visits at Coimbra prison

The prison service DGRSP lists Coimbra prison at Rua da Infantaria 23, telephone +351 239 793 800. Its published family-visit slots are Saturday 09:00–11:00 for odd-numbered groups and 14:30–16:00 for even-numbered groups; on Sunday even-numbered groups visit in the morning and odd-numbered groups in the afternoon, at the same hours. Visitors must check the prisoner's actual group, identification and permissions with the establishment. This schedule does not govern lawyers' professional visits and does not prove that a particular detainee is there. Counsel should verify detention with the detaining agency and the court.

Documents to send before speaking to Portuguese counsel

Send Portuguese counsel the person's full legal name, birth date, nationalities, confirmed address and ID; exact arrest time and police unit; warrant, international notice or extradition papers; requesting state and file number; sentence and evidence of finality if applicable; language and dialect for interpretation; urgent medicines and family contacts; and every hearing record or detention order showing notification. Note separately whether the person consented to surrender or expressly waived speciality. Hypothetical: a Coimbra resident arrested on an Italian EAW needs the actual article 15 court identified, an interpreter and the article 18 hearing; her family should not prepare an eight-day conventional-extradition opposition. By contrast, for a Brazilian request the family must obtain the applicable treaty and check Law 144/99 deadlines. A red notice alone is not a Portuguese surrender order.

Questions families commonly ask

For coordination of cross-border defence with independent local counsel, send a confidential enquiry. This is general information, not individual legal advice.