Portugal's Constitutional Court again rejects two appeals by PM Montenegro in the Spinumviva case

Court declines to rule on the substance

The Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) has again refused to examine the merits of two appeals lodged by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in the Spinumviva case. The plenary decided the matter on 3 November in cases 975/25 and 743/26, and the judges relied on formal and procedural grounds rather than on the legal question itself. The parties were notified, and the prime minister's office confirmed the notification in a reply to RTP. Observador, Expresso and Diário de Notícias all reported the ruling on 6 November, and the judges sit at the Palácio Ratton.

The appeals concern numbers 8 to 10 of article 17 of Law 52/2019 of 31 July, which let holders of political office object to public access, in whole or in part, to parts of their income and asset declarations. Montenegro wanted to block public access to Spinumviva's services to clients, the balances of its bank accounts and any details that would harm third parties or private life. The Transparency Entity (Entidade para a Transparência) had earlier ordered that this information be included in his declaration obligations.

The prime minister's response

The prime minister's office said the court had once again left the core question unanswered and had leaned on procedural arguments instead. It expressed regret that the correct reading of the law is still unclear after so long.

“It is regrettable that, after all this time, the correct interpretation of the law remains unclear and a situation of uncertainty persists with effects on citizens' participation in political life.”

The office nonetheless considers the situation overtaken in the prime minister's own case, because every declaration has already been made and is public.

“Even so, in the case of the current prime minister, all the declarations have already been made and are public.”

Background to the dispute

Spinumviva is a company Montenegro founded, and in March 2025 he passed it on to his children. In late March 2026 he published the company's client list himself, ahead of the Transparency Entity, after the media had already made the list public. The prime minister explained at the time that he did not want to be dependent on excessive bureaucracy and the operating difficulties of the digital platform. The list was made fully public after Montenegro filed a replacement declaration with the Transparency Entity.

What comes next

A source close to Montenegro told Expresso that the prime minister will not file any further appeals on this issue. The office therefore regards the matter as closed for him, even though the broader legal question remains open. According to the office's account, the rules on declarations for holders of political office are still not settled by any court. The Expresso report appeared the same day as the ruling reached the prime minister.