SIED’S HISTORY

The Organic Law of the Intelligence System of the Portuguese Republic (SIRP) – Law 30/84 – set forth the establishment of three intelligence services within its structure: the Defence Strategic Intelligence Service (SIED), the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS).

Such services were regulated by the following Acts that were published on 4 July 1985: Law-Decree 224/85, that laid down the organics of SIED; Law-Decree 225/85 that regulated SIS; and Law-Decree 226/85 that regulated SIM.

However, as this project unfolded, only SIS would actually operate during the eighties. Various contingencies led to the modification of the SIRP Law, namely through Law 4/95, of 21 February.
Particularly noteworthy amongst the changes introduced by Law 4/95 “… to SIRP are the ones pertaining to the intelligence services (SI): SIML ceased to exist and the military component was passed on to SIED that henceforth was named SIEDM (Military Defence Strategic Intelligence Service). Law-Decree 254/95 was published still in  1995, on 30 September, so as to regulate SIEDM.
However, the first Director-General of SIEDM only assumed office on 5 May 1997.

The remit of SIEDM was once again modified in 2004, under Law 4/2004, published on 6 November, that changed the organics of SIRP, SIEDM lost its military component and was dubbed SIED (Defence Strategic Intelligence Service), as established by the first version of the SIRP Framework-Law. As a consequence, the intelligence activities that are necessary to ensure military security and to the specific missions of the Armed Forces became autonomous. On account of the reshuffling in SIRP that took place at that time, SIED and SIS are now directly subordinated to the Prime Minister and are supervised by the Secretary-General of SIRP.

With the motto To Divine and Avert Dangers, SIED currently is the agency in charge of producing intelligence that may contribute to safeguard national independence, national interests and the Portuguese State’s external security.