Portuguese Orders of Merit – New Law and Regulations
(Lei nº 5/2011, de 2 de Março)
A new law regulating the Portuguese Orders of Merit has been approved by the National Assembly and enacted by the President of the Republic with effect as from March, 9th, 2011.
Among the main modifications introduced to the Orders’ statutes and regulations were:
- The Riband of the Grand Cross of the Three Orders has now been defined as the «private decoration of the President of the Republic» and a new insignia for the Riband of the Three Orders, has been set, to be worn with civilian clothes – a rosette 12 mm. Ø, with the colours of the Riband, threaded gold.
- The President of the Republic is now allowed to wear with the Riband of the Three Orders, any of the Grand-Collars of the orders that have it (Tower of the Sword, St. James, Infante D. Henrique and Order of Liberty), but without the Riband, and wearing the respective star giving precedence to the star of the grand cross of the Three Orders.
- Apparently, by the new law, it becomes possible to award the Grand Collar of the Order of the Tower and Sword to anyone other than, the former elected presidents at the end of their term of office. In the previous law the award of this Grand Collar was only exceptionally authorised, by special law, to several foreign Heads of State.
- The remaining Grand Collars – Orders of St. James, Infante D. Henrique and Liberty – can still be awarded to foreign Heads of State, but now, they can also be conferred motu proprio, through a Presidential decree, to «former Heads of State and to anyone who by extraordinary deeds of special relevance to Portugal deserve this distinction».
Till now, this was only possible, in exceptional cases, and needed to be authorised by the Government through a law decree. Examples of these were the awards of the Grand-Collar of the Order of Liberty to former Presidents Doctor Mário Soares (1996), Doctor Jorge Sampaio (2006) and to Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General fo the U.N. (2005); the Grand Collar of the Order of St. James to the Literature Nobel Prize José Saramago (1998) and the Grand Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique to General Vasco Rocha Vieira, former Governor of Macao (2001).
5. As regards insignia some important innovations were introduced:
a. The width of the Riband of the Grand Crosses was established: 100 mm for men and 60 mm for ladies;
b. Ladies of the grand officer, commander, officer and dame classes, will wear the order’s badge pending from a lace, 30 mm wide;
c. Ladies miniatures can be suspended from a small lace with the colours of the Order, instead of the rosette used by men.
6. The scope of the order of Christ is now restricted to reward relevant services to the country in offices related with the organs of sovereignty – Parliament, Government and the Courts. Therefore, it ceases to be possible its award for Civil Service, like Diplomats, the Armed Forces and other high ranking civil servants. Thus, without any explanation, a tradition that goes back to the Reform of the Military Orders by Queen Mary I, in 1789, and which was kept untouched by the Republic in 1918, is put to an end.
7. The Order of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Merit changes its name becoming the Order for Entrepreneurship Merit, including the possibility of its award to labourers or workers, keeping its three classes – Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Merit.
8. Power of initiative to propose the award of any order has been given to the President of the National Assembly (Parliament); Ministers no long have the initiative, with the exception of the Minister of National Defence as regards the Military Order of Avis, all having to be carried through the Prime Minster
9. Citizens and other entities are formally given the right to address petitions for the award of an order to the President of the Republic, those being submitted to the Council of Chancellors and the Council of the Orders who can after appreciation put forward a formal proposal for decoration.
10. One of the most important innovations introduced by the new law concerns the abusive wearing of decorations, insignia and badges:
Portuguese nationals are not allowed, within Portugal, in Portuguese diplomatic missions or aboard ships with Portuguese pavilion, to wear insignia of the Portuguese Orders not conferred by the President or, those of foreign orders without previous permission from the President.
Furthermore, all citizens, either Portuguese or foreigners, cannot wear in public, within the Republic of Portugal, any insignia of orders of merit not awarded by the Portuguese Republic or by States or international entities, internationally recognized as having the right to confer orders.
The first case covers therefore, the abusive use of insignia of any Portuguese Order by anyone not decorated by the President of the Republic or, the use of a foreign decoration whose acceptance and use has not been applied for and granted by the President, except in the cases in which this procedure is not required.
The second case applies to the use in public of insignia of orders’ not awarded by foreign States or International entities, like for example the Sovereign Order of Malta.
Anyone infringing the law is liable of criminal proceedings for punished with six months imprisonment or with a fine up to 60 days.
These measures can only deserve applause since they will certainly be a deterrent for the self-styled orders or bogus orders that have been prospering since World War II.
José Vicente de Bragança
