Chapter XIV · Publication of company acts

Article 168 Failure to register or publish

Artigo 168.º · Falta de registo ou publicação

Código das Sociedades Comerciais · Decree-Law No. 262/86 · consolidated text checked 26 October 2026

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1. Third parties may rely on acts that have not been registered and published, unless the law deprives those acts of all effect or specifies the purposes for which third parties may rely on them.

1 - Os terceiros podem prevalecer-se de actos cujo registo e publicação não tenham sido efectuados, salvo se a lei privar esses actos de todos os efeitos ou especificar para que efeitos podem os terceiros prevalecer-se deles.

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2. The company may not invoke against third parties acts whose publication is mandatory until publication has been made, unless the company proves that the act is registered and that the third party has knowledge of it.

2 - A sociedade não pode opor a terceiros actos cuja publicação seja obrigatória sem que esta esteja efectuada, salvo se a sociedade provar que o acto está registado e que o terceiro tem conhecimento dele.

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3. In respect of transactions carried out before sixteen days have elapsed since publication, the acts may not be invoked by the company against third parties who prove that, during that period, it was impossible for them to become aware of the publication.

3 - Relativamente a operações efectuadas antes de terem decorrido dezasseis dias sobre a publicação, os actos não são oponíveis pela sociedade a terceiros que provem ter estado, durante esse período, impossibilitados de tomar conhecimento da publicação.

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4. Acts that are subject to registration but not to mandatory publication may not be invoked by the company against third parties until registration has been made.

4 - Os actos sujeitos a registo, mas que não devam ser obrigatoriamente publicados, não podem ser opostos pela sociedade a terceiros enquanto o registo não for efectuado.

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5. Proceedings for a declaration of nullity or for annulment of company resolutions may not continue until proof is given that registration has been applied for; in proceedings for the suspension of such resolutions, no decision shall be given until that proof is given.

5 - As acções de declaração de nulidade ou de anulação de deliberações sociais não podem prosseguir, enquanto não for feita prova de ter sido requerido o registo; nas acções de suspensão das referidas deliberações a decisão não será proferida enquanto aquela prova não for feita.

What we checked in this article

Third parties' right to rely on unregistered acts and its exceptions, the company's inability to invoke unpublished or unregistered acts (with the proof-of-knowledge exception), the sixteen-day period and the procedural bar pending proof of the application for registration are retained.

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Unofficial English translation prepared by BCA Portugal for reference. Only the Portuguese text published in the Diário da República has legal force. Editorial notes are ours and are not part of the statute.

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