State Act

Code of Comunidades of 1961

Art. 153 – 53[Government] is empowered to: 1. Appoint, contract, promote, transfer, retire and dismiss administrators and employees of the administration office and of the comunidade, in accordance with the law; 2. Exercise disciplinary action on the administrators and the personnel referred in the previous number, as per law, and grant them leave; 3. Appoint and dismiss the effective and substitute presidents of the managing committees, dissolve the elected part of them, and appoint suitable persons to replace them, in terms foreseen in this Code; 4. Approve urgent expenses in terms of article 65; 5. Authorise the meetings of the comunidades in the seat of the administration office and direct the administrator to attend the meetings, where they are normally held; 6. Authorize eventual or unforeseen expenses in excess of 1500$ and the extraordinary expenses approved by the respective comunidade; 7. Compel the comunidades to use the technical means necessary for the maintenance of the paddy fields of one or two crops and to cultivate the uncultivated lands suitable for cultivation; 8. After hearing the comunidades, to order the acquisition of machinery and tools that facilitate and improve agriculture, the rational use of fertilizers and experiment new crops and the creation of new artificial pastures for the feeding cattle; 9. Grant 54[emphyteusis[, authorize the exchange of the land of comunidades and order its reversion; 55[9A. Grant approval to the Comunidades to withdraw, admit or compromise any legal proceedings;]. 10. 56[Grant long time leases] 11. Grant extension of period for the utilization of the lands granted on emphyteusis; 12. Grant rebate – (quita) to the lease holders of the paddy fields; 13. Authorize the payment, in instalments, of the dues to the comunidades; 14. Decide the complaints and appeals against the decisions of the administrator in non-contentious matters; 15. Wind up the insolvent comunidades which are in the conditions mentioned in the article 178; 16. Exercise all the powers conferred in this Code; 17. After hearing the Government Council, to approve the budgets of income and expenditure of the administration office of comunidades and of the Pension Bank (Caixa de Aposentações). 18. And, in general, to take cognizance of all the acts of the administrator of the comunidades, in matters which are not within the cognizance of the Administrative Tribunal or by common courts. 57[19. To make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of the Code.] 58[20. To direct the Administrator of the Comunidade, without prejudice to any other remedy provided by law, to recover such amount or sum due, if any, from the Comunidade as arrear of land revenue and for this purpose the Administrator thereof may forward' to the Collector a certificate as early as possible in the prescribed form mentioning, the sum due from such Comunidade and requesting that such sum may be recovered as if it were an arrear of land revenue.]