Supreme Administrative Court sets rules for municipal meeting agendas

The Supreme Administrative Court (STA) has ruled that municipal meeting agendas must include topics requested by executive members, provided they fall within the council's competence and follow legal deadlines. This decision follows a conflict in the Municipality of Braga involving the Amar e Servir Braga (ASB) movement, which sought to compel Mayor João Rodrigues to include their proposals in executive meetings.

According to the ruling, requests must be submitted in writing at least five days in advance for ordinary meetings and eight days for extraordinary meetings. However, the STA concluded that the courts cannot intervene to penalize a president for omitting such topics. The court characterized the relationship between council members and the president as political rather than a legal-administrative matter. To resolve such disputes, the court pointed to internal mechanisms, such as one-third of executive members having the power to convene an extraordinary meeting and set its own agenda.