Hugo Ramos Alves

Education

  • 2015 PhD in Law at the Lisbon School of Law (“Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa”).
  • 2009 Master of Law at the Lisbon School of Law.
  • 2004 Bachelor of Law (Lic. Iur.) at the Lisbon School of Law.

Teaching experience

Hugo began his teaching experience as a Guest Lecturer at the Lisbon School of Law (2008- 2015) and, following his doctorate, as Assistant Professor since November 11, 2015. He usually teaches (i) Maritime Law, (ii) the Law of Obligations, (iii) Commercial Law, (iv) Companies Law to the Bachelor Course and, in the master’s course, (v) Commercial Law, (ii) Aviation Law and (iii) Transport Law.

Hugo as also lectured in (i) Transport Law at the Master’s course on Transport Law at the Katyavala University (Benguela, Angola (2018)), (ii) Civil Liability at the Master’s Course on Private Law at Instituto Politécnico Lusíada (Lobito, Angola (2023)), and (iii) Credit Facilities at the Post-Graduation Course on Banking Law at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais (Cape Verde (2025).

Hugo also lectured the Law of Obligations, General Theory of Private Law and Maritime Law at the Bissau School of Law (Guinea-Bissau), where he also acted as Scientific Coordinator (2019- 2022).

Professional experience

Hugo is registered at the Portuguese Bar Association since October 2006. He worked for several law firms and, since October 2022, acts as an independent legal expert in several transnational high-profile litigation cases (either judicial or arbitral) involving, inter alia, (i) liability of directors, (ii) bribery and corruption of state-owned companies’ key officers and (iii) breach of contracts.

Hugo is also an arbitrator. He acted as counsel for an ad hoc international arbitration of the breach of contracts for aircraft maintenance (Angola). Hugo was Senior Legal Counsel of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (2016-2018), where he was involved in the group’s restructuring, and was involved in several credit facilities (namely acquisition finance, project finance and venture capital)

Hugo usually acts as consultant for private and public entities in the Portuguese and Angolan jurisdiction, and, to a lesser extent, in the Mozambican jurisdiction in matters of private investment, shareholders’ agreements or commercial contracts, as well as maritime claims. Among is consultancy in Aviation Law, (i) Hugo prepared training courses to the Guinea-Bissau Aviation Authority (2021-2022) on several matters, as market access, aircraft registration and carrier’s liability, (ii) is currently acting as a national expert (Portugal) on the study on airport fitness (EC-MOVE/2024/OP/0014 – Support study for a Fitness Check of the EU regulatory framework for airport capacity), and on the study DG MOVE – Framework contract EC- MOVE/2025/OP/0009 – Legal assistance in the fields of Mobility and Transport and Energy, and (iii) also assisted in matters relating to aviation matters in Angola for both private and public entities.

Under protocols signed entered into with the Bissau School of Law, the UNDP – United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Guinea- Bissau, Hugo acted as consultant and coordinator of projects aimed at revising (i) the Civil Code of Guinea-Bissau (2019-2021), (ii) Civil Procedure Code of Guinea-Bissau (2019-2021), (iii) the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Code of Guinea-Bissau (2019-2021), and (iv) reorganizing the judicial sector of Guinea-Bissau (2020-2022), preparing several draft decree laws to such extent. Hugo also coordinated the adjustment of the (i) Child Protection Code of Guinea-Bissau (2021-2022) and (ii) the draft decree on the legal status of the Court of Auditors (Tribunal de contas) (2022). Hugo was also a consultant for the World Bank Group (2023) on the draft legislation on the use of digital signatures in Guinea-Bissau.

Professional associations

  • Member of the panel of arbitrators of CREL – Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution of the Angolan Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Centro de Arbitragem e de Resolução de Litígios do Ministério das Justiça e dos Direitos Humanos de Angola).
  • Associate Member of the Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Aeronáutico y del Espacio.
  • Associate Member of the European Air Law Association.3
  • Associate Member of the Lusophone Association of Arbitration and Mediation (ALAM – Associação Lusófona de Arbitragem e Mediação)
  • Founding member of the Observatory for Citizenship and Security (Observatório para a Cidadania e Segurança, Guinea-Bissau) and IBDAIR – Brazilian Institute of Aeronautical Law and Civil Aviation (Brazil).

Published works (Monographs only)

Editor of:

Estudos sobre a OHADA II, Lisbon, AAFDL, 2022 (426 pages)and Estudos sobre a OHADA III, Lisbon, AAFDL, 2023 (414 pages), i.e. “Studies on OHADA”, which comprehend circa 30 scholar articles on the OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa).

Author of:

Uma introdução ao direito espacial, [An introduction to space law], 2026 (forthcoming) Direito aéreo: passado e future [Aviation law: past and future], 2026, (forthcoming) (Uma reincidência) Sobre a desconsideração da personalidade jurídica nas sociedades comerciais [Piercing the corporate veil of commercial companies], 2.nd edition, Lisbon, AAFDL, 2025.

Uma introdução ao direito aéreo [An introduction to aviation law], São Paulo, D’Plácido, 2024. Direito aéreo [Aviation law], 2nd edition, Lisbon, AAFDL, 2024.

Sobre a desconsideração da personalidade jurídica nas sociedades comerciais (Piercing the corporate veil of commercial companies), Lisbon, AAFDL, 2023. Dação em cumprimento [Acceptance in lieu of performance], Coimbra, Almedina, 2017, [doctoral thesis].

Do penhor (On pledge), Coimbra, Almedina, 2010 [master’s thesis]. Sobre a limitação de responsabilidade no transportador na Convenção de Bruxelas de 1924 [On the carrier’s limitation of liability in the Hague Rules], Coimbra, Almedina, 2008.

Do mandato de crédito [Mandatum de pecunia credendi], Coimbra, Almedina, 2007.