Kate McCann admits in her book that private criminal investigations in Portugal were illegal.

[stephen25000]

Technically illegal?  You couldn't make it up if you tried.   

It wasn't technically illegal.

It was a criminal offense.

[Matthew Wyse]

It wasn't technically illegal.

It was a criminal offence.

People usually use this term when they know that they have done wrong but use it in an attempt to portray the event in a different light, a case of getting ahead of the herd.

[John]

People usually use this term when they know that they have done wrong but use it in an attempt to portray the event in a different light, a case of getting ahead of the herd.

You mean in the same manner that little white lies told for the best of reasons aren't really lies at all?   

Didn't Gonçalo Amaral get a suspended sentence for his little white lies and technically illegal activities?

[Eleanor]

I would like to know more about this law that deems private investigations to be illegal in Portugal.  Is it in force for all time, or only during the course of a Police Investigation?  What is it's purpose?  And why would The PJ want to prevent relatives from looking for their own missing people?

How can The PJ prevent Internet Sleuths from following their own inquiries?  And what would be the penalties if they could?  How would those supposed penalties be enforced?

Did Metodo3 operate in Portugal itself or only in North Africa, Spain, and other European Countries? Not to forget America, of course.  Although I'm not sure if they did that.
Did Officially Employed Agents of Metodo3 actually set foot in Portugal?

[Mr Moderator]

I would like to know more about this law that deems private investigations to be illegal in Portugal.  Is it in force for all time, or only during the course of a Police Investigation?  What is it's purpose?  And why would The PJ want to prevent relatives from looking for their own missing people?

How can The PJ prevent Internet Sleuths from following their own inquiries?  And what would be the penalties if they could?  How would those supposed penalties be enforced?

Did Metodo3 operate in Portugal itself or only in North Africa, Spain, and other European Countries? Not to forget America, of course.  Although I'm not sure if they did that.
Did Officially Employed Agents of Metodo3 actually set foot in Portugal?

The crux of it appears to be that interference in a live criminal investigation which includes the use of private investigators is deemed illegal activity in Portugal.

[Mr Gray]

The crux of it appears to be that interference in a live criminal investigation which includes the use of private investigators is deemed illegal activity in Portugal.

what some of us would like to know is where this information comes from...is there a reliable independent source that explains the law ..what are the precise limitations....

[Alice Purjorick]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1564121/Madeleine-McCann-police-fury-over-private-hunt.html

This may answer some questions and pose a few more!

[John]

To clarify, commissioning a private investigation into criminal activities in Portugal whilst an official investigation is live constitutes an act of obstruction punishable under the Portuguese penal code.

Antonio Martins, president of the National Association of Portuguese Judges, told the newspaper 24 Horas: "It is still up to the state to carry out criminal investigation. That kind of activity has no legal standing.

"Anything that results from private investigation has no substance."

Mr Martins said the private detectives and even the McCanns themselves could be accused of "obstruction of justice".

Carlos Anjos, the head of Portugal's criminal police federation, added: "This can only be another diversion tactic from the McCanns. It is nothing but folklore.

"Portugal does not have legislation in this area. Private detectives who intervene in criminal cases cannot exist.

"The law only tolerates private detectives who gather information and only about matters of the private lives of certain people like extramarital relationships."

A separate police source warned that the involvement of investigators may not only be illegal but could have a detrimental effect on the inquiry.

The high ranking official told newspaper Correio da Manha: "If private investigators come here they will be running a serious risk of being arrested."

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1564121/Madeleine-McCann-police-fury-over-private-hunt.html

[Mr Gray]

To clarify, commissioning a private investigation into criminal activities in Portugal whilst an official investigation is live constitutes an act of obstruction punishable under the Portuguese penal code.

Antonio Martins, president of the National Association of Portuguese Judges, told the newspaper 24 Horas: "It is still up to the state to carry out criminal investigation. That kind of activity has no legal standing.

"Anything that results from private investigation has no substance."

Mr Martins said the private detectives and even the McCanns themselves could be accused of "obstruction of justice".

Carlos Anjos, the head of Portugal's criminal police federation, added: "This can only be another diversion tactic from the McCanns. It is nothing but folklore.

"Portugal does not have legislation in this area. Private detectives who intervene in criminal cases cannot exist.

"The law only tolerates private detectives who gather information and only about matters of the private lives of certain people like extramarital relationships."

A separate police source warned that the involvement of investigators may not only be illegal but could have a detrimental effect on the inquiry.

The high ranking official told newspaper Correio da Manha: "If private investigators come here they will be running a serious risk of being arrested."

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1564121/Madeleine-McCann-police-fury-over-private-hunt.html

so the best confirmation we have is an un named police source in a newspaper article saying a private investigation MAY be illegal

[Alice Purjorick]

One finds it hard to believe that any police force in the world would be too happy about "amateurs" carrying out a parallel investigations with an official current criminal investigation. One would also expect that most countries legal systems would have a mechanism to stop it under "obstructing or interfering with the course of justice".
It does rather seem self evident.

[Carana]

One finds it hard to believe that any police force in the world would be too happy about "amateurs" carrying out a parallel investigations with an official current criminal investigation. One would also expect that most countries legal systems would have a mechanism to stop it under "obstructing or interfering with the course of justice".
It does rather seem self evident.

I don't see how there can be a blanket law against a private investigation, as opposed to laws against using illicit means to gather information or actively interfering with or obstructing the course of justice. Otherwise, all the good people who had tried to help in the search would all be in the same category, I would have thought.

[Brietta]

One finds it hard to believe that any police force in the world would be too happy about "amateurs" carrying out a parallel investigations with an official current criminal investigation. One would also expect that most countries legal systems would have a mechanism to stop it under "obstructing or interfering with the course of justice".
It does rather seem self evident.

It seems rather self evident to me that it is highly unusual for the victims of crime to feel the need to outsource in a criminal investigation. 

However we know from Dr Amaral’s own statements that the criminal investigation was focused not on finding Madeleine … but on her parents 'guilt' in her disappearance. 

The Drs McCann were seeing this at first hand and their focus was on finding their daughter.

No one else was looking for her.

[faithlilly]

It seems rather self evident to me that it is highly unusual for the victims of crime to feel the need to outsource in a criminal investigation. 

However we know from Dr Amaral’s own statements that the criminal investigation was focused not on finding Madeleine … but on her parents 'guilt' in her disappearance. 

The Drs McCann were seeing this at first hand and their focus was on finding their daughter.

No one else was looking for her.

You can't pick and choose when it is acceptable to break the law and whether the McCanns felt justified in employing their own investigators is beside the point. It is illegal to carry out a private investigation in Portugal when there is an official one in progress and the McCann were lucky not to have been charged as a result.

[Brietta]

You can't pick and choose when it is acceptable to break the law and whether the McCanns felt justified in employing their own investigators is beside the point. It is illegal to carry out a private investigation in Portugal when there is an official one in progress and the McCann were lucky not to have been charged as a result.

I doubt luck comes into it.
If there had been the slightest chance of charging the Drs McCann with anything, I can't see the opportunity of it being passed over.  So there must have been good reason they were not charged ... wonder what that could have been?

[faithlilly]

I doubt luck comes into it.
If there had been the slightest chance of charging the Drs McCann with anything, I can't see the opportunity of it being passed over.  So there must have been good reason they were not charged ... wonder what that could have been?

Could it have been because they had hightailed it back to the protective shores of dear old Blighty ?