SERIES I – NO. 22 “OFFICIAL JOURNAL” OF THE REPUBLIC OF CAPE VERDE –
JUNE 14, 2010
STATUTES OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF CAPE
VERDE (IPICV)
CHAPTER I
Nature, headquarters and aim
Article 1
Nature
1. The Institute of Intellectual Property of Cape Verde (IPICV) shall be a public
authority, with legal personality and autonomy with regard to administrative
and financial affairs and assets. It shall be both a public institution and a body
governed by public law.
2. IPICV shall be governed by the provisions of the present Statutes and other
legislation applicable to public institutions.
3. IPICV shall operate under the supervision of the Ministers for Industry and
Culture.
Article 2
Headquarters
The headquarters of IPICV shall be located in the city of Praia. In the exercise of its
activities, IPICV may open or close delegations or other forms of representation at
any location within the national territory.
Article 3
Aim
1. The aim of IPICV shall be to promote, defend and protect intellectual property,
both at the national and international level.
2. When working to achieve its aim IPICV shall act in accordance with the policy of
modernization and strengthening of national entrepreneurial infrastructure, in
order to facilitate and promote the establishment of ownership of intellectual
creations and the development of a competitive and innovative national
intellectual sector.
Article 4
Tasks
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With a view to achieving its aim, IPICV shall be responsible for carrying out the
following tasks:
(a) implementing and inspecting compliance with the standards, directives and
guidelines which govern industrial property rights, copyright and related rights,
taking into account the social interest and technological, economic and cultural
development of Cape Verde;
(b) promoting the actions necessary for the granting and protection of industrial
property rights, copyright and related rights and contributing to the establishment
of fair competition;
(c) contributing to the settingout of specific intellectual property policies and
assisting in the implementation of the measures arising from such policies;
(d) presenting the Government with proposals for the improvement and development
of legislation on industrial property and copyright and related rights, and ensuring
the respective compliance;
(e) presenting the Government with proposals for measures aimed at establishing and
modernizing the protection of intellectual property;
(f) advising the Government on issues relating to intellectual property in the field of
the public economy;
(g) cooperating with international bodies and institutions specializing in the field of
intellectual property and of which Cape Verde is a member and ensuring that
Cape Verde shall be represented in the meetings and activities of said bodies, in
particular with regard to the management of conventions, treaties, agreements and
regulations, through cooperation with the government body responsible for
foreign affairs;
(h) ensuring the granting and protection of industrial property rights, copyright and
related rights, while seeking to strengthen fair competition and to combat
usurpation, piracy and counterfeiting, cooperating with national and international
bodies working in the field of intellectual property violations;
(i) processing applications for patents, utility models, industrial designs and
registration of trade marks, trade names and emblems of establishments,
appellations of origin, geographical indications and logos, as well as carrying out
the respective classification;
(j) encouraging and processing registration of copyright and related rights;
(k) maintaining uptodate records of the rights granted and the respective
amendments, thus ensuring the existence of a permanent archive of certified
information and means of proof necessary for the resolution of intellectual
property disputes;
(l) publishing, under the terms established by law, acts, rulings and other elements
relevant to intellectual property;
(m)disseminating technological and intellectual information, with a view to fostering
the spirit of invention and innovation. Adopting measures which encourage
technology transfer and the use of patents, through the mobilization of
partnerships with public and private teaching and research institutions, civil
society and with fundholders, for the purposes of technological development and
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innovation and the maximizing of access to public information deposited with
IPICV;
(n) cooperating closely with Cape Verdean professional organizations, bodies and
orders within the field of intellectual property, in order to improve productivity
and competitiveness in Cape Verde;
(o) promoting the use of intellectual property together with the academic, scientific
and business communities;
(p) providing information on intellectual property rights protection systems, as well
as on protected patent rights and the state of the art.
(q) fostering and promoting the creation and registration of copyright and related
rights together with civil society and the public and private sectors;
(r) promoting the comparative study of laws governing copyright, industrial property,
unfair competition, technology transfer and consumer protection, in order to foster
development and harmonization in that field;
(s) promoting work placements in the fields of industrial property, copyright and
related rights, and organizing courses, seminars and conferences in cooperation
with national and international intellectual property experts;
(t) any tasks conferred upon it by law or regulations.
CHAPTER II
Organization and functioning
Section I
General Structure
Article 5
Bodies and Services
IPICV shall have its own bodies and services, which shall be responsible for carrying
out the actions required for the achievement of the Institute’s aim and the completion
of its tasks.
Article 6
Bodies
The following shall be bodies of IPICV:
(a) the President;
(b) the Administrative Council;
(c) the Advisory Committee.
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Article 7
Services
The following services shall carry out the tasks assigned to IPICV:
(a) the Directorate for Industrial Property;
(b) the Directorate for Copyright and Related Rights;
(c) the Directorate for Administrative and Financial Services;
(d) Directorate for Information, Innovation Promotion and Protection Services.
Article 8
Other organizational units
1. IPICV shall have two departments which are necessary for the efficient
functioning of the Institute.
2. The establishment, organization and functioning of the two departments
referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be the subject of rules of
procedure approved by the Administrative Council.
3. The services shall be organized according to the horizontal and vertical
criteria of specialization of functions considered to be most appropriate for the
proper performance of the tasks allotted to IPICV and the rational use of its
resources.
Section II
Organs
Subsection I
President
Article 9
Appointment
The President shall be appointed by order of the Prime Minister, following nomination by
those Ministers responsible for supervising IPICV.
Article 10
Competencies
1. The President of IPICV shall be the single executive body and shall have
exclusive competency to run the Institute, as well as to:
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(a) represent the Administrative Council;
(b) direct and coordinate the activities of IPICV;
(c) represent IPICV in and out of court;
(d) deal with relations with public and private, national and international
institutions;
(e) convene and chair the meetings of the Administrative Council and to
arrange for the implementation of the decisions taken at those
meetings;
(f) sign documents, attestations and certificates relating to intellectual
property rights;
(g) authorize the spending necessary for the functioning of IPICV up to
the amount approved by the Administrative Council;
(h) prepare and promote the approval, application, implementation and
alteration of draft forwardlooking management tools, the presentation
of accounts and of the rules of procedure of IPICV;
(i) ensure the implementation of management policies and the standards
governing the functioning of IPICV;
(j) ensure the implementation of the deliberations of the collegiate bodies
of IPICV and the decisions of the supervisory body;
(k) manage the human, material and financial resources of IPICV;
(l) take disciplinary action against IPICV staff, in accordance with the
law;
(m) ensure the representation of IPICV within committees, working groups
or other activities of national and international bodies active in the
fields of industrial property, copyright and related rights;
(n) carry out those acts inherent in the running of IPICV;
(o) carry out any other tasks conferred upon him/her by the supervisory
Ministers or as delegated by the Administrative Council, as well as
those that, under the terms of the law and regulations, fall within
his/her remit.
2. The President of IPICV shall also be responsible for:
(a) devising the institution’s strategic development plan;
(b) devising the institution’s commercial policy;
(c) devising the rules of procedure of the institution.
3. The President may delegate his competencies to the other members of the
Administrative Council.
4. The President may, exceptionally, and for urgent and duly substantiated
reasons and in cases where it is difficult to convene the Administrative
Council, carry out any acts that shall be within the competency of the Council,
which must, however, be ratified at the next meeting.
5. Should he be unable to attend or absent, the President shall be replaced by a
member of the Administrative Council, nominated by the Council and
appointed by the supervisory Ministers.
Subsection II
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The Administrative Council
Article 11
Administrative Council
1. The Administrative Council shall be the coordinating body of IPICV with regard
to management of administrative and financial affairs, as well as assets.
2. The Administrative Council shall be made up of the President and two other
members, appointed from among a body of individuals with proven technical
competence and integrity, under the terms of Article 9 of the present Statutes.
Article 12
Competencies
1. The Administrative Council shall be competent to:
(a) approve its own rules of procedure;
(b) approve the management plan, supervising the financial and
administrative management of IPICV;
(c) define the internal organization of IPICV, submitting plans for
approval to establish services and units and the respective regulations
to the supervisory Ministers;
(d) prepare and submit to the supervisory Ministers proposals contained in
the annual activities and budget plan, as well as the report on
activities;
(e) promote the preparation and approval of management accounts and
submit them to the Court of Auditors, within the legal time period;
(f) authorize the spending provided for in the IPICV budget and ensure
the collection of revenue;
(g) decide on the granting, renewal and revocation of trade marks, patents,
utility models and registrations of industrial property rights, copyright
and related rights, and alterations thereto;
(h) submit, for the approval or authorization of the supervisory bodies, the
minutes and documents which, under the terms of the law and these
statutes, must be submitted;
(i) oversee the activities of the institution;
(j) discuss borrowing and the issuing of bonds by the institution, under
the terms of the law;
(k) approve the institution’s strategic plan;
(l) approve the institution’s commercial policy;
(m) establish working groups or frameworks for projects aimed at carrying
out activities which cannot be undertaken by a single organizational
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unit on its own and establish their mandate, composition and way of
functioning;
(n) inspect compliance with the legal precepts governing the institution;
(o) contract third parties to provide services and prepare studies, as well as
carry out purchase and supply for IPICV, with a view to the Institute
carrying out its tasks correctly, and oversee the execution of those
contracts, in accordance with the legislation in force;
(p) set the fees and charges payable for the services provided by IPICV;
(q) exercise any other functions and carry out any other acts necessary for
the completion of the tasks of IPICV, which are not within the
competency of the other bodies.
2. The Administrative Council shall also be responsible for submitting the
following for assessment and final decision by the supervisory bodies:
(a) the interim management tools approved each year by the Council;
(b) the IPICV’s salary scale;
(c) the IPICV Staff Regulations and list of staff members;
(d) the establishment of delegations and other forms of representation of
the institution in Cape Verde.
3. The Administrative Council may delegate the competencies provided for in
the indents of paragraph 1 to any one of its members, along with the power to
subdelegate.
Article 13
Functioning of the Administrative Council
1. The Administrative Council shall meet for ordinary sessions once a month, and
for extraordinary sessions whenever it is convened by the President, acting on his
own initiative or at the request of a Council member.
2. In order for the deliberations of the Administrative Council to be valid, the
majority of its members must be present.
3. All IPICV staff members may take part in the meetings of the Administrative
Council, without voting rights, as may anyone else, even if not employed by
IPICV, on the condition that the President has no objection, bearing in mind the
items on the working agenda.
Subsection III
Article 14
Advisory Committee
1. The Advisory Committee shall be a body of an advisory nature which shall be
the competent authority, in general, regarding assessment of the activities
carried out by IPICV and provision of advice in that respect.
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2. The Advisory Committee shall be chaired by the President of IPICV and shall
also be made up of at least four individuals recognized for their achievements
in the fields of art, economics, science and technology in Cape Verde, in
particular with regard to intellectual property.
3. The individuals referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be appointed by
the supervisory Ministers.
Article 15
Competencies of the Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee shall be competent to:
(a) analyze the implementation of intellectual property administration and
management policies within the scope of the decisions of the State and to
propose actions to the supervising Ministers that will ensure the correct
implementation of those policies;
(b) examine the annual and multiannual activity plans and programs, as well as
the respective implementation reports, issuing the corresponding opinions;
(c) issue an opinion on the establishment or abolition of structures within IPICV;
(d) issue opinions on any matters relating to management of financial affairs and
assets which might be submitted for its attention;
(e) issue an opinion on the approval of the rules of procedure of IPICV;
(f) issue opinions on other matters inherent in the execution of the tasks and the
functioning of IPICV.
Article 16
Functioning of the Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee shall meet every six months for ordinary sessions, and for
extraordinary sessions whenever it is convened by the President acting on his own
initiative or at the request of at least one third of the Committee’s members.
Subsection IV
Common provisions
Article 17
Mandate
The duration of the mandate of the officers of the bodies of IPICV shall be 3 (three)
years, and shall be renewable.
Article 18
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Minutes
Minutes of all the meetings of the bodies of IPICV shall be recorded in a book kept for
that specific purpose and, following approval, shall be signed by all of those who took
part in those meetings.
Section III
Services
Subsection I
Directorate for Industrial Property
Article 19
Competencies
The Directorate for Industrial Property shall act within the field of private industrial
property rights, with the aim of ensuring national and international protection, through
the granting and protection of trade marks, awards, appellations of origin, trade names
and emblems of establishments, logos, designs, patents, utility models, supplementary
protection certificates and topographies of semiconductor products, and shall have
competency, in particular, to:
(a) ensure the receipt, deposit, when it arises, and transmission of requests for
national and international registration of the various forms of industrial
property;
(b) carry out the formal and indepth examination of requests for protection of the
various forms of industrial property, assessing compliance with the legislation
and the established criteria;
(c) carry out the acts relating to the granting, refusal, maintenance, alteration and
lapse of industrial property rights and to make the corresponding entries in the
records;
(d) prepare attestations, certificates, titles and other documents that serve as proof
of registration;
(e) cooperate with the competent bodies in carrying out preventive or repressive
actions with regard to industrial property violations and unfair competition;
prepare opinions and reports and provide the necessary information;
(f) prepare information for publication in the Industrial Property Journal;
(g) study technical proposals for projects, agreements and treaties relating to the
various forms of industrial property and give them due consideration, issuing
an opinion with regard thereto;
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(h) develop strategies and policies with regard to cooperation, financing,
development and promotion of industrial property.
Subsection II
Directorate for Copyright and Related Rights
Article 20
Competencies
The Directorate for Copyright Services shall act within the scope of copyright and
related rights, with the aim of ensuring the protection and exploitation of the
copyright and related rights, and shall be responsible, in particular, for:
(a) ensuring the national registration of works, computer programs, databases and
related rights;
(b) verifying the authorship of works, computer programs, databases and related
rights;
(c) carrying out acts relating to the protection of moral rights and equity claims,
copyright and related rights;
(d) guaranteeing the exploitation of registered works, computer programs, databases
and related rights and the payment of authors, performers, producers of
phonograms and videograms and broadcasting organizations for their services;
(e) preparing certified copies, certificates and titles, as well as other documents
serving as proof of registration;
(f) cooperating with the competent bodies in the execution of preventive or
repressive actions related to infringements of copyright and related rights,
preparing opinions and reports and providing any necessary information;
(g) organizing and regularly updating systems providing information on registered
copyright and related rights;
(h) examining, monitoring and assisting in the use of registered Cape Verdean works,
computer programs, databases and related rights;
(i) ensuring the protection and exploitation of Cape Verdean works, computer
programs, databases and related rights, all of which competencies may be
delegated to any institution considered to be appropriate;
(j) studying technical proposals for draft documents, agreements and treaties
concerning the field of copyright and related rights, issuing the competent
opinions due with regard thereto;
(k) developing cooperation, funding, development and promotion strategies and
policies for copyright and related rights.
Subsection III
Directorate for Administrative and Financial Services
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Article 21
Competencies
The Directorate for Administrative and Financial Services shall be responsible for
promoting the study and implementation of measures designed to improve the
functioning of IPICV with the aim of ensuring the management, organization and
administration of human and financial resources, as well as assets. In particular, the
Directorate shall be responsible for:
(a) promoting the preparation of staff management tools and indicators;
(b) carrying out the administrative procedures related to staff recruitment and
movements, as well as those acts inherent in the corresponding legal
framework;
(c) studying and proposing staff training and motivational measures;
(d) proposing and providing support for the implementation of measures
concerning the organization and simplification of working procedures and
methods;
(e) promoting staff training and education actions;
(f) organizing and maintaining the staff register and ensuring that registration
and monitoring are carried out thoroughly;
(g) ensuring the receipt, registration, classification, distribution and dispatch
of correspondence;
(h) promoting the systematic improvement of budgetary management,
implementing costcontrol techniques and participating in IPICV’s budget
preparation process;
(i) preparing draft budgets and ensuring that they are implemented;
(j) verifying, classifying and processing documents concerning revenue and
expenditure and carrying out the corresponding accounting;
(k) preparing financial management tools and indicators while observing
public accounting principles;
(l) ensuring the movement of cash flows and balancing the books on a
monthly basis;
(m) ensuring the management of IPICV’s assets and maintaining an inventory
of movable and immovable property.
Subsection IV
Directorate for Information, Innovation Promotion and Protection Services
Article 22
Competencies
The IPICV Directorate for Information, Innovation Promotion and Protection Services
shall be responsible for: disseminating and promoting opportunities in terms of industrial
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property, copyright and related rights together with economic, artistic, cultural,
intellectual and academic agents; protecting the various rights covered by registration;
organizing, processing and maintaining technical information pertaining to those sectors.
In particular, the Directorate shall be responsible for:
(a) organizing and maintaining a specialized library on industrial property,
copyright and related rights and ensuring public access to the IPICV’s
archives;
(b) dealing with and promoting the selective dissemination of technological
information contained in patents and other documents relating to industrial
property;
(c) promoting the creation of technological information centers for firms and
carrying out awarenessraising concerning the industrial property system in
order to foster creativity and innovation regarding production and marketing
processes;
(d) editing IPICV publications and carrying out microfilming and reprographic
work, as well as promoting the publication of the Industrial Property Journal;
(e) guaranteeing IPICV’s public relations and providing information to users;
(f) maintaining uptodate information on new information technologies, making
proposals concerning the procurement of IT equipment and products;
(g) promoting the development and improvement of software and other IT
applications appropriate for the IPICV’s areas of action, in particular with
regard to bibliographical and management information concerning patent,
mark, registration and deposit processes;
(h) maintaining IT equipment allocated to IPICV, in accordance with the relevant
technical standards;
(i) carrying out the safety, verification and maintenance procedures necessary for
the proper functioning of existing applications and ensuring the correction of
anomalies or malfunctions;
(j) providing user support and managing the distribution of resources and the
IPICV IT network in line with the needs of the various services;
(k) promoting participation in national and international information networks
with a view to the establishment and use of an industrial property database;
(l) deciding, on behalf of the bodies of IPICV, on an interpretation of industrial
property standards, copyright and related rights, as well as the legal
framework in general, proposing internal standards and guidelines on the
application and observance of the legislation in force;
(m)encouraging observance of the Constitution and other legislation applicable to
IPICV;
(n) cooperating with the competent institutions in the fight against counterfeiting,
piracy and corruption;
(o) receiving requests, information, claims and suggestions and analyzing and
processing in a suitable fashion and, when necessary, forwarding, such
communications to the competent bodies and institutions for due
consideration.
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CHAPTER III
Oversight
Article 23
Oversight
1. The government ministers responsible for the fields of industry and culture
shall also provide oversight concerning IPICV and shall hereafter be referred
to as the Oversight Bodies.
2. The Oversight Bodies shall be responsible for:
(a) providing guidance in terms of IPICV activities, setting out targets,
objectives, strategies and policy/administrative criteria, providing a
sectoral and global framework for IPICV within the public
administration;
(b) approving the regulations of IPICV;
(c) approving IPICV’s management planning tools and the documents
presenting the accounts prior to their transmission to the Court of
Auditors;
(d) approving the staff regulations, the posts, careers and salaries scheme,
the pay scale and IPICV staffing levels;
(e) proposing to the Prime Minister and endorsing nominees for positions
in IPICV’s management bodies;
(f) appointing the heads of IPICV;
(g) requesting and obtaining necessary or appropriate information on the
execution of IPICV programs and budgets and on the implementation
of the respective assignments;
(h) authorizing borrowing, when permitted by law;
(i) authorizing the acceptance of donations, bequests, and/or legacies
which have been contested or which shall be subject to charges;
(j) authorizing the acquisition, encumbrance and alienation of immovable
and movable assets subject to the registration of IPICV’s private
assets;
(k) suspending, or revoking, under the terms of the law, those acts of the
specific bodies of IPICV, which violate the law or which may be
considered to be fundamentally inappropriate or inconvenient in terms
of the public interest;
(l) replacing the bodies of IPICV, on behalf and in the interests of IPICV,
in order to make up for negligence or inaction on the part of those
bodies, in cases in which those bodies are legally bound to act;
(m)monitoring and inspecting the functioning of IPICV;
(n) ordering inquiries, investigations or inspections of IPICV;
(o) setting the remunerations of the President and the two members of the
Administrative Council;
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(p) any other duties entrusted to them by law or by the statutes.
CHAPTER IV
Administrative, Financial and Asset Management
Section I
Administrative and Financial Management
Article 24
Principles
IPICV shall be dutybound to observe the following principles when
carrying out administrative and financial management functions:
(a) management by objectives, designed to promote action at all
levels;
(b) resultsbased budgetary control, taking into account the necessary
basis for the measurement of its services’ productivity;
(c) an integrated information management system, taking into account
the movement of information necessary for the preparation and
proper implementation of programs;
(d) the observance of legal regulations.
Article 25
Management tools
1. IPICV shall use the following management tools:
(a) annual and multiannual activity and financial plans;
(b) annual budgets;
(c) financial expenditure plans;
(d) annual activity and accounting reports.
2. The accounting activities of IPICV must include an analytical component
that guarantees appropriate and permanent budgetary control and easy
verification of the relationship existing between asset values and financial
values and the corresponding accounting elements, as well as the
measurement of the share of each individual organizational unit in the cost
structure of each service.
3. In order to meet the needs provided for in the above paragraph, IPICV
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shall implement the current accounting plan for public institutes, adapted
to the specific circumstances of IPICV, basically using it as a
management tool.
Article 26
Assets
The assets of IPICV shall be made up of the entirety of its goods, rights and duties.
Article 27
Revenue
The following items shall constitute the revenue of IPICV:
(a) the proceeds of fees collected as a result of the deposit and registration of the
various forms of intellectual property, in particular patents, utility models,
industrial designs, marks, trade names and emblems of establishments, logos,
appellations of origin, geographical indications and awards, as well as other sums
of money that may be paid to IPICV.
(b) the proceeds of fees collected as a result of the registration of works and a
percentage, to be set through a joint directive of the government Ministers
responsible for oversight, of the proceeds of the economic exploitation of the
works registered.
(c) the proceeds of the sale of services and publications;
(d) other sums arising from disposal of assets;
(e) State budget allocations;
(f) allocations, contributions and subsidies granted to IPICV by any public or private
bodies, be they national or foreign;
(g) donations and subsidies originating from individuals or collectives, be they
national or foreign;
(h) any other revenue allocated by law, contract or any other act.
Article 28
Expenditure
The following items shall constitute expenditure of IPICV:
(a) operating costs;
(b) procurement, maintenance and other costs inherent in the exercise of IPICV’s
functions;
(c) any other necessary costs related to the carryingout of IPICV’s activities.
Article 29
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Implementation of funds and reserves
1. The following minimum reserves, use of which shall be subject to approval by the
Administrative Council and to ratification by the Oversight Bodies, have been
established to channel income:
(a) the Research Fund;
(b) the Investment Fund;
(c) the Fund for Annual Contributions to Regional and International
Organizations.
2. A specific account has been set up for IPICV’s funds to be deposited at the Bank
of Cape Verde, movements of these funds being subject to the terms of the law
and requiring the joint signatures of the President of the Administrative Council
and the Administrative and Financial Director of IPICV, or those of their
respective acting replacements.
Section II
Inspection and Presentation of Accounts
Article 30
Liability to Inspection
1. IPICV shall be liable to inspection by the Court of Auditors.
2. IPICV shall be liable to other inspections and the presentation of accounts in the
forms, under the terms and within the time periods legally established for public
institutes.
3. The financial activities of IPICV shall be liable to inspection by the Inspectorate
General of Finances.
4. The administrative, economic, financial and asset management of IPICV shall all
be liable to independent external audit, following a decision of the Oversight
Bodies and/or of the government Ministers responsible for the fields of Public
Administration and Finances.
Article 31
Referral
The administrative and financial management of IPICV shall be governed by the laws
on public accounting.
CHAPTER V
Staff
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Article 32
Legal Regime and Staff
1. The staff of IPICV shall, in general, be governed by the regulations applicable to
individual employment contracts and, in particular, by the provisions of the
respective staff regulations.
2. The IPICV staff establishment plan , as well as the respective Regulations, shall
be approved though a joint directive of the government Ministers responsible for
the fields of Industry, Culture, Finances and Public Administration.
Article 33
Mobility
1. The officials of the central public administration, public institutes and local
autonomous authorities, as well as the workers of public firms, may be called on to
perform duties within IPICV, on secondment or on temporary assignment, their original
posts and the rights acquired in those posts being guaranteed and all the time spent in the
service of IPICV being taken into account when calculating length of service at their
bodies of origin.
2. The staff of IPICV may be called on to perform duties for the State within other
public institutes or local autonomous authorities, as well as in public firms, on
secondment or on temporary assignment, their original posts and the rights acquired in
those posts being guaranteed and the period during which they performed duties within
those bodies being taken into account when calculating length of service at IPICV.
3. Officials employed by the State, public institutes or local autonomous authorities
who perform duties within IPICV under the terms of paragraph (1) shall continue to be
governed by their own disciplinary regime, it, however, being the duty of the
Administrative Council to exercise the corresponding disciplinary power during their
period of service within IPICV.
Article 34
Confidentiality
1. The members of the bodies of IPICV, the respective staff and those
individuals or bodies, public or private, that provide those bodies with any
services, be it on a permanent or occasional basis, shall be subject to
professional confidentiality regarding any information to which they may be
party during the performance of their duties or while providing the
abovementioned services. They may not, for any reason whatsoever, disclose,
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or use, for personal benefit or for the benefit of others, directly or through a
third party, such information.
2. Professional confidentiality must be maintained even when the individuals or
bodies subject to that regime under the terms of the previous paragraph no
longer provide services for IPICV.
3. Without prejudice to the resulting civil and criminal liability, the infringement
of the duty of confidentiality established under the present Article, when
committed by a member or staff member of one of the bodies of IPICV, shall
result in disciplinary measures corresponding to the seriousness of the
infringement being taken against the offender. Such measures may include
dismissal and the rescinding of employment contracts and, in cases involving
infringements committed by individuals or bodies linked to IPICV by a
provision of service contract, the Administrative Council shall have the right
to rescind the corresponding contract unilaterally and immediately.
Ministers Fátima Maria Carvalho Fialho Fernanda Maria de Brito Leitão
Marques VeraCruz Pinto
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