Sub-paragraph (d) of Article 6 asks for the fundamental rights and duties inherent in nationality, not for the whole Constitution.
- Sub-paragraph (d) of Article 6(1) of Law 37/81 requires sufficient knowledge of the fundamental rights and duties inherent in Portuguese nationality.
- The same sub-paragraph also requires knowledge of the political organisation of the Portuguese State.
- It was added by Organic Law 1/2026, published in the official gazette on 18 May 2026.
- The word inherent narrows the material: it is what nationality adds to someone already living in Portugal, not the Constitution's first 79 articles.
Source: Lei da Nacionalidade (Lei n.º 37/81), artigo 6.º, n.º 1, alínea d)
Sub-paragraph (e) requires a solemn declaration of adherence to the founding principles of the democratic rule of law.
- Sub-paragraph (e) of the same article requires applicants to solemnly declare their adherence to the founding principles of the democratic rule of law.
- The Constitution lists those principles right at the start: popular sovereignty, democratic political pluralism and democratic political organisation.
- The list goes on with respect for and effective guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms, and the separation and interdependence of powers.
Source: Lei da Nacionalidade (Lei n.º 37/81), artigo 6.º, n.º 1, alínea e)
Article 15(1) gives foreigners resident in Portugal the rights and the duties of a Portuguese citizen.
- Article 15 of the Constitution is titled Foreigners, stateless persons, European citizens.
- Paragraph 1 says that foreigners and stateless persons present or resident in Portugal enjoy the rights and are subject to the duties of a Portuguese citizen.
- This equal treatment is the rule, not an exception: a resident foreigner already has almost every right a Portuguese citizen has, before naturalising.
- Health, education, the courts, work and freedom of expression were already guaranteed to a resident foreigner before naturalisation.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 15.º, n.º 1
Article 15(2) takes three blocks out of that equal treatment, and those blocks are what nationality adds.
- Paragraph 2 of Article 15 excludes political rights from that equal treatment.
- It also excludes the exercise of public functions that are not predominantly technical.
- It further excludes the rights and duties that the Constitution and statute reserve exclusively to Portuguese citizens.
- Those three blocks are, in essence, what Portuguese nationality adds to someone already living in Portugal.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 15.º, n.º 2
The principles of universality and equality put rights and duties together and close the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.
- The principle of universality says that all citizens enjoy the rights and are subject to the duties set out in the Constitution.
- That sentence puts rights and duties on the same line: the Constitution has no catalogue of rights separate from a catalogue of duties.
- Article 13 forbids, in paragraph 2, privileging, favouring, prejudicing, depriving of any right or exempting from any duty on the grounds it lists.
- Those grounds are ancestry, sex, race, language, territory of origin, religion and political or ideological convictions.
- The list goes on with education, economic situation, social condition and sexual orientation, and is written in that order.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigos 12.º e 13.º
Only five articles of the Constitution put the word duty next to the right, in the same sentence.
- The five articles that put the word duty next to the right are 36, 49, 64, 66 and 276.
- Article 49 gives the vote to citizens over eighteen and says that exercising it is personal and is a civic duty, not a legal obligation.
- Article 276 says that defending the homeland is a fundamental right and duty of all Portuguese citizens, rather than of everyone.
- Article 64 gives the right to health protection and the duty to defend and promote it; Article 66 gives the right to a healthy environment and the duty to defend it.
- Article 36 gives parents the right and the duty to educate and maintain their children.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigos 36.º, 49.º, 64.º, 66.º e 276.º
The Constitution never says everyone has a duty to pay taxes; Article 103 is, in practice, a taxpayer guarantee.
- The Constitution has no article with the sentence everyone has a duty to pay taxes.
- Article 103(1) says the tax system serves the financial needs of the State and of other public entities and the fair distribution of income and wealth.
- Paragraph 2 says that taxes are created by statute.
- Paragraph 3 says nobody may be made to pay taxes that were not created under the Constitution, that are retroactive, or that are not collected as the law provides.
- The duty to pay tax does exist, but it comes from each tax statute and not from the Constitution.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 103.º
Article 15 creates a middle status for citizens of Portuguese-speaking states, with a closed list of exceptions.
- Paragraph 3 gives citizens of Portuguese-speaking states with permanent residence in Portugal, under statute and on reciprocity, rights not given to other foreigners.
- Those rights do not include the offices of President of the Republic, President of the Assembly of the Republic, Prime Minister and Presidents of the supreme courts.
- Nor do they include service in the Armed Forces or the diplomatic career.
- Paragraphs 4 and 5 allow statute to give resident foreigners, on conditions of reciprocity, the right to vote in local elections.
- The same paragraphs allow resident European Union citizens to be given the right to vote and stand for the European Parliament.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigo 15.º, n.os 3 a 5
Naturalisation adds full political rights, access to public office without restriction, and the State's protection abroad.
- Someone who naturalises gains full political rights: they may vote and stand in every election, not only local and European ones.
- They gain access to public office without the restriction that applies to foreigners and to citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries.
- They come under the protection the Constitution gives to Portuguese citizens who are present or resident abroad.
- The Constitution says that Portuguese citizens are all those considered as such by statute or by international convention.
- It is not the Constitution that defines who is Portuguese: that definition is in Law 37/81.
Source: Constituição da República Portuguesa, artigos 4.º e 15.º