PSD separates loss of nationality from the original law

The government's amendments to the nationality law will maintain the harshest sanction—the loss of nationality—but separate it from the original legislation. The precaution has to do with the risk of this provision's possible unconstitutionality, which has divided legal experts: the government wants the loss of nationality to be provided for in a separate amendment, thus avoiding the possibility of the entire legislation being rejected.

As Observador noted in the amendment proposals presented by the PSD and CDS and confirmed with a PSD parliamentary source, the idea is to isolate the issue of the loss of nationality in a separate piece of legislation, allowing the new nationality law to make its own way and the more controversial issue to be voted on separately.

“The proposing parties decided to exclude from the text (…) the proposal that, by far, raised the greatest disagreements – the sanction of loss of nationality –, referring its treatment to the Penal Code, along with other accessory sanctions”, reads the justification for the amendment, submitted to Parliament this Monday night.

Thus, an amendment to the Penal Code is now being presented, which provides for the loss of nationality to anyone who has been naturalized less than ten years ago if they have been sentenced to an effective prison sentence of five years or more, and if they have committed crimes against life, physical integrity, personal freedom, sexual freedom and self-determination, criminal association, crimes against the State, aiding illegal immigration, terrorism, arms trafficking or drug trafficking.

In these cases, the court must take into account the "disregard" for the constitutional order of values ​​and the security of the Portuguese State, the length of legal residence, the degree of integration into the community and the effective connection to the country; furthermore, the loss of nationality cannot be based on political motives and the reacquisition must be able to be requested after the "deadline for definitive cancellation of the registration in the criminal record of the respective sentences".