PORTUGUESE LEGISLATION (Starred Question No. 568 dated 5-7-1995 in the Goa Legislative Assembly)

Portuguese rule in Goa extended over a period of 451 years, from 1510 to 19 December 1961. In 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate and established it as the headquarters of the Estado da Índia (Portuguese State of India). Although Portuguese rule is generally referred to as lasting for 450 years, the actual duration varied in different parts of the present State of Goa depending upon the time of territorial acquisition.

During this long colonial period, the Portuguese administration enacted numerous laws for the governance of the then small territory of Goa. After Goa became part of the Indian Union following Liberation, many of these enactments were repealed. However, during the period when Goa was a Union Territory, several Portuguese laws were allowed to continue in force until they were specifically repealed or replaced by local legislation.

In this context, in the year 1995, the then Leader of the Opposition, late Shri Manohar Parrikar, raised a Starred Question in the Goa Legislative Assembly regarding the Portuguese laws that were still operative in the State.

In reply to Starred Question No. 568 raised on 5 July 1995, the then Law Minister Shri Dominic Fernandes informed the House that as many as 43 Portuguese enactments continued to remain in force in the State of Goa. The details of these laws were furnished in Annexure I appended to the said reply. It was further informed that a number of these enactments had already been translated into English, as indicated in Annexure II.

However, when copies of the translated enactments were subsequently sought from the Law Department, it was informed that the relevant records were not available.

As a part of its commitment to make all Goa laws accessible to the public through this website, Goa Kaido undertook further efforts to trace these enactments. Some translated English versions were obtained from the Government Printing Press, Goa, where a few of them were available for public sale. However, the majority of the enactments could not be traced there.

Thereafter, sustained efforts were made through various sources, including Krishnadas Shama Goa State Central Library and the Department of Archives and Archaeology, from where most of the original Acts in the Portuguese language were collected.

Subsequently, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), these enactments have been translated into English for the benefit of readers and researchers.

Goa Kaido sincerely hopes that this endeavour will serve as a valuable resource for advocates, students, researchers, and all readers interested in understanding the unique legal heritage of Goa.