Information
We provide information in the consumer area for consumers, service providers and suppliers of goods.
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Mediation
Carrying out due diligence between the parties in dispute, who voluntarily seek to reach an agreement with the assistance of a conflict mediator.
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Conciliation
If no agreement is reached in Mediation, an attempt at conciliation is made before the Arbitration Trial takes place. The conciliator comes forward with solution proposals.
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Arbitration
If no agreement is reached in the Conciliation, the dispute is referred to the Arbitration Court, for the Arbitration Trial to be carried out. The conciliator comes forward with solution proposals.
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Information, Mediation and Arbitration and Consumer Center of the Azores Region
CIMARA's purpose is to promote and guarantee Consumer rights in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. Our activity involves both providing legal information to Consumers, Suppliers of goods and Service Providers in the Azores, as well as promoting and applying Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods (RAL) to consumer disputes, through mediation and conciliation services. and arbitration.
Learn moreFor example, a consumer who has bought a defective microwave wants to know what their rights are in this situation.
For example, the consumer has terminated his contract with the communications operator. The communications operator doesn’t accept the complaint because it considers that there is a loyalty period that hasn’t ended yet.
Basically, CIMARA acts in cases where the consumer is unable, on their own, to resolve their problem with the service provider or supplier of goods. CIMARA’s role is primarily to encourage and promote an agreement between the parties, either through mediation or conciliation. If this is not possible, it is competent to follow up and instruct the case for Arbitration.
Alternative dispute resolution (RAL) allows you to resolve disputes out of court with the assistance of an impartial dispute resolution entity. It is a faster, simpler, friendly and economical way of resolving conflicts, but with equal security guarantees and covers mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
In Portugal, the development of RAL emerged at the end of the 1980s and mainly in the area of consumer law, namely with the creation of the first consumer dispute arbitration center, in Lisbon, in 1989.
Arbitration Centers provide information, mediation and conciliation to people in conflict. These are independent, impartial and specialized entities that seek to help consumers and companies in resolving consumer conflicts.
The Consumer Arbitration Network (RAC) was created by Law No. 144/2015 and integrates consumer dispute arbitration centers authorized to pursue information, mediation and arbitration activities in consumer disputes.
CIMARA is an institutionalized arbitration center with a regional scope (covering the Azores archipelago) and generic competence in the area of consumer disputes, under the terms of paragraph a) of article 3 of Law nº 144/2015, of September 8 , whose creation was authorized by the Ministry of Justice by Order No. 12783/2022, of September 21, 2022.
CIMARA is competent to resolve consumer disputes:
So, for example: even if you live in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, if you made a purchase in a physical store in Porto, you will have to go to the Porto arbitration center. If an online purchase is in question, the competent arbitration center is the one in the consumer’s area of residence, that is, if you reside in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and made an online purchase from a store in Lisbon, CIMARA will be the your responsible arbitration center.
The supplier is obliged to accept arbitration by the arbitration center if the value of the dispute is up to 5,000.00€.
