Title VII · Criminal provisions

Article 518 Unlawful refusal of information

Artigo 518.º · Recusa ilícita de informações

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

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1. A manager or director of a company who refuses, or causes another person to refuse, the inspection of documents which the law requires to be made available to interested parties in preparation for company meetings, or refuses, or causes another person to refuse, to send documents for that purpose where required by law, or sends or causes to be sent those documents without satisfying the conditions and time limits laid down by law, is punishable, unless a more severe penalty applies under another statutory provision, by imprisonment for up to 2 years or a fine.

1 - O gerente ou administrador de sociedade que recusar ou fizer recusar por outrem a consulta de documentos que a lei determine sejam postos à disposição dos interessados para preparação de assembleias sociais, ou recusar ou fizer recusar o envio de documentos para esse fim, quando devido por lei, ou enviar ou fizer enviar esses documentos sem satisfazer as condições e os prazos estabelecidos na lei, é punido, se pena mais grave não couber por força de outra disposição legal, com pena de prisão até 2 anos ou com pena de multa.

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2. A manager or director of a company who refuses, or causes another person to refuse, at a company meeting, information which they are required by law to provide, or, in other circumstances, information which they must provide by law and which has been requested from them in writing, is punishable by imprisonment for up to 1 year and 6 months or a fine.

2 - O gerente ou administrador de sociedade que recusar ou fizer recusar por outrem, em reunião de assembleia social, informações que esteja por lei obrigado a prestar, ou, noutras circunstâncias, informações que por lei deva prestar e que lhe tenham sido pedidas por escrito, é punido com pena de prisão até 1 ano e 6 meses ou com pena de multa.

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3. If, in the case of paragraph 1, serious damage, pecuniary or non-pecuniary, which the offender could have foreseen, is caused to any member who did not consent to the act or to the company, the penalty is imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine.

3 - Se, no caso do n.º 1, for causado dano grave, material ou moral, e que o autor pudesse prever, a algum sócio que não tenha dado o seu assentimento para o facto ou à sociedade, a pena é de prisão até 3 anos ou pena de multa.

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4. If, in the case of paragraph 2, the act is committed for a reason that does not indicate a lack of diligence in defending the rights and legitimate interests of the company and the members, but merely a mistaken understanding of the scope of those rights and interests, the offender is exempted from penalty.

4 - Se, no caso do n.º 2, o facto for cometido por motivo que não indicie falta de zelo na defesa dos direitos e dos interesses legítimos da sociedade e dos sócios, mas apenas compreensão errónea do objeto desses direitos e interesses, o autor é dispensado de pena.

What we checked in this article

The two offences (documents for meeting preparation, up to 2 years with subsidiarity clause; refusal of information at a meeting or requested in writing, up to 1 year and 6 months), the 3-year aggravation limited to paragraph 1, and the mandatory exemption from penalty in paragraph 4 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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