On March 2, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was identified in Portugal. On March 18, 2020, a state of emergency was declared in Portugal for the first time in its democratic history. On April 27, 2020, the first communication of the Webinar Conference Series "COVID-19 and the Law" took place, under the auspices of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Lusófona University (Porto).
The simple listing of these dates immediately highlights how the FDCP-ULP effectively responded to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including legal challenges. The faculty organized discussions involving faculty members and colleagues from other universities across the country, addressing the primary legal issues arising from COVID-19, all within less than two months of the first case being reported in Portugal. Credit for driving this Conference Series goes to Master Miguel Osório de Castro, who, when confronted with this new reality, immediately stepped up to become the driving force behind it.
Subsequently, many colleagues and experts from various legal fields, who were and continue to be affected by the proliferation of legal norms arising in the context of the pandemic, willingly participated. Given the diversity and richness of these contributions, it was decided that the memory of this Conference Series should be preserved. This is the reason for the present work to follow the order in which the presentations took place. The topics covered in this work range from private and public contracts, commercial entities, competition, criminal issues, procedural deadlines, and even artificial intelligence.
