New crimes against persons and the Portuguese penal reform

Authors

  • Manuel da Costa Andrade Universidade de Coimbra, UC, Portugal image/svg+xml

Keywords:

New legal interests, Sexual freedom, Privacy, Right to speech, Right to image

Abstract

The experience of the Portuguese penal reform, between 1982 and 1995, shows that crimes against persons underwent substantial transformations, both quantitatively and in systematic and teleological terms. The author examines the process leading to Decree-Law 48/95 of 15 March and demonstrates how the emergence of new personal legal interests, linked to sexual freedom, privacy, speech, image and informational self-determination, profoundly altered the Special Part of the Penal Code. The methodology combines dogmatic analysis, legal comparison, especially with German law, and historical-legal references. It concludes that the reform expanded and strengthened the criminal protection of personality, converting crimes formerly tied to morality or supra-individual values into crimes against the freedom and autonomy of the person.

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Author Biography

Manuel da Costa Andrade, Universidade de Coimbra, UC, Portugal

Professor da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra.

References

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Published

1996-10-01

How to Cite

ANDRADE, Manuel da Costa. New crimes against persons and the Portuguese penal reform. Brazilian Journal of Criminal Science, São Paulo, v. 16, n. 16, p. 86–113, 1996. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/RBCCRIM/article/view/3546. Acesso em: 9 oct. 2026.

Issue

Section

International Doctrine
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