“Resolution Fund - Constitutional Court Ruling on BCP Could Affect Other Institutions” (with Alexandre Roque)

«Judgment No. 666/2026 pertains solely to BCP’s periodic contributions to the Resolution Fund between 2013 and 2017, since the law does not set contribution rates, leaving that authority to an administrative body—in this case, the Bank of Portugal. “Such limits should have been established by law or decree-law; it is unconstitutional to transfer this ‘power’ to the Bank of Portugal,” summarizes attorney Alexandre Roque, a partner in the Public Law Department at SRS Legal, in an interview with PÚBLICO.

“Note that a decree-law is approved by the Council of Ministers, must be promulgated by the President of the Republic, and, notably, may be referred by the President to the Constitutional Court. Instructions or regulations, on the other hand, are approved by the highest body of the administrative entity, in its ‘offices’ or meeting rooms, and ordinances by a member of the government (or more in the case of a joint ordinance), also in their ‘offices,’ without following that legislative process and the oversight inherent to it,” the same lawyer explains.

That is why, in Alexandre Roque’s view, “when countless ‘fees’ proliferate, it is easy to foresee the risk inherent in an administrative entity holding this ‘power’ without the oversight inherent in a legislative process.” “This decision could thus have repercussions in other cases where this type of ‘delegislation’ exists,” he continues.»