Portugal’s Constitutional Court has, for the second time in six months, struck down a law that would have let judges strip naturalised citizens of their Portuguese nationality as punishment for serious crimes. For the thousands of foreigners who have gone through naturalisation — and the many more currently working towards it — the ruling matters because it reaffirms a principle that Portuguese citizenship, once granted, carries the same weight regardless of where you were born.
What the court decided
The Constitutional Court rejected the proposed Penal Code amendment that would have created an additional penalty of loss of nationality for naturalised foreigners who committed certain crimes in Portugal, with judges ruling unanimously that several provisions of the decree were unconstitutional. The decision, handed down on Friday 8 May 2026, was the court’s second word on the matter. Judges at the Palácio Ratton again rejected the penalty of loss of Portuguese nationality for anyone who commits crimes within the first 15 years after obtaining nationality.
The reasoning was the same both times. The judges found the equality principle was violated, because the penalty of loss of nationality would apply only to naturalised Portuguese citizens. According to rapporteur Mariana Canotilho, the law violates “the principle of equality,” since it maintains a discrimination between citizens who are Portuguese by birth and those who obtained Portuguese nationality. Court president José João Abrantes was blunt about the practical effect: even for the gravest offences, “notwithstanding the seriousness of the conduct” involved in these crimes, nobody can lose their nationality because the sanction is disproportionate.
What the law would have covered — and where the line sits
The version rejected in May had already been narrowed once, after December’s first rejection. The accessory penalty was originally set for anyone sentenced to more than four years’ imprisonment for a crime committed within 10 years of obtaining nationality; the revised version raised the threshold to more than five years and extended the window to 15 years. That still wasn’t enough to satisfy the court. Judges also declared unconstitutional the provisions admitting the accessory penalty for aggravated homicide, slavery, human trafficking, rape and sexual abuse, finding these offences carry no dimension of rupture with the political-legal bond of citizenship.
Crucially, the court has not shut the door entirely. The court accepts that loss of nationality could be compatible with the Constitution only in cases involving crimes against state security or terrorism and its financing, where there is an alignment between the protected legal interest and the one that legitimises stripping nationality. In other words: espionage or treason-type offences remain a narrow, theoretical exception; ordinary serious crime — however violent — does not.
Politics: this isn’t over yet
Both versions of the decree passed parliament with support from the governing coalition and Chega. Despite the rejection, the decree was approved by a majority exceeding two-thirds — with votes in favour from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega and Iniciativa Liberal — which allows for its eventual reconfirmation by parliament. That legal quirk means the political fight is not settled by this ruling alone. The Socialist Party did not this time ask the court to rule on the separate Nationality Law, already signed by the President, but following this Constitutional Court decision, President António José Seguro will have to veto this decree, which will return to Parliament.
Chega leader André Ventura, who authored the original proposal, called the ruling “a decision that’s totally incomprehensible” and said he wants loss of nationality written directly into the Constitution through a future revision — a route that would require broad cross-party support and is not imminent.
What this means in practice
For now, nothing changes for naturalised Portuguese citizens: there is no accessory penalty of citizenship loss tied to criminal convictions, and none is in force. This is a separate matter from the broader 2026 Nationality Law reform — the one extending naturalisation residency requirements to seven years (EU/CPLP nationals) or ten years (everyone else) — which the President signed and which entered into force on 19 May 2026 after surviving its own path through the Constitutional Court. Naturalised citizens keep full legal parity with citizens by birth on this specific question, at least until (or unless) parliament tries a third, narrower version limited to state-security and terrorism offences, which is the only avenue the court has left open.
Anyone naturalising, or already naturalised, should still track developments through official channels rather than rely on political noise. The IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado) remains the authority for nationality matters — see https://irn.justica.gov.pt — and GrowIN’s citizenship and residency hub tracks how each ruling affects real applications. If you’re mid-process on naturalisation, or considering it, get tailored advice rather than assuming today’s rules will look the same in twelve months; this is an area of Portuguese law that is visibly still being fought over in real time.
The broader signal is simple enough: Portugal’s highest court has now twice told parliament that citizenship, once earned, cannot come with an asterisk.
This article was produced with AI assistance and editorial oversight in line with our editorial policy. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.