THE RIGHT TO REIMBURSEMENT OF THE CAPITAL SHARES IN CASE OF EXCLUSION OF A COOPERATOR Comments on the Decision of Évora Court of Appeal on the 22th October 2020 (Procedure n. 2469/18.8T8far.e1)

Abstract

This text comments on the Decision taken by the Évora Court of Appeal, in its Judgement of 22/10/2020. This Decision inadequately frames the issue of the
right to a share of the non-mandatory reserves that can be distributed in the event of exclusion of the cooperator. Although paragraph 6 of Article 26 of Cooperative Code only refers to the provisions of the final part of paragraph 1 of Article 89, omitting, by lapse, the reference to paragraph 2 of Article 89, this does not prevent the right of excluded cooperators to the share of distributable non-mandatory reserves, with reference to the value of their individualised current accounts. The judgment adds to the penalty of exclusion, in the form of loss of membership, a financial penalty in the form of loss of a share of of distributable non-mandatory reserves. Differently from the judgment, we consider that the statues of a cooperative may not remove the right of a cooperative member who leaves the cooperative to a share of the non-mandatory distributable reserves.