Certifying Entities (EC) of the State
1 – The certifying entities of the State are the public entities that perform certifying entity functions in accordance with the established in Decree-Law nº 290-D/99, of 2nd August, in the wording introduced by Decree-Law nº 62/2003, of 3rd April and by this decree-law and respective regulations, and that:
a) Are admitted as certifying entities, according to the established in nº 2 of article 5;
b) Act in accordance with the certification practices statement and with certification policy and practices approved by the SCEE Managing Council.
2 – It is considered as certifying entities of the State any entities that independently of their nature, render certification services for the realization of the Public Administration own purposes.
3 – Only the entities recognised as certifying entities of the State are allowed to provide electronic certification services, within the scope of SCEE.
4 – The certifying entities cannot issue certificates of a different level than the immediately subsequent to its own, except in the cases of lateral or crossed certification agreements promoted and approved by the SCEE Managing Council.
5 – The registration services can be attributed to entities, either individual or collective, designated as registration entities, in which the certifying entities delegate the rendering of identification and registration services of certificate users, as well as the management of certificates revocation requests, in accordance with the established in nº1 of article 4 of Regulatory Decree nº 25/2004, of 15th July.
The trust hierarchy of SCEE comprises the Root Certifying Entity of the State (ECRaizEstado), the Certifying Entities of the State (ECEstado) and the Subordinated Certifying Entities (subECEstado).
The Certifying Entities that compose the SCEE are:
■ “ECEE” as first level Certification Entity. Its function is to establish the trust chain root of the public key infrastructure (PKI). This EC does not issue certificates for the end users, only issuing certificates to sign the Certifying Entities of the State. The “ECEE” signs itself.
■ The EC are entities that are at the immediately lower level of the Root EC, its main function being to provide the management of the certification services: issue, operation, suspension, revocation for its subscribers. Its certificate is signed by Root EC.
■ The subEC are entities that are at the immediately lower level of the EC, having the function of providing certification services for the end user. Its certificate is signed by respective EC.
The Certifying Entities constituted within the scope of ECEE, should render available a complete version of its Certification Practices Statement (DPC).
Registration Entities (ER)
These are entities that through the establishment of an agreement with the Certifying Entity of the State, these delegate the rendering of identification services and the registration of users, as well as the management of certificates revocation requests.
The registration Entities develop their activity in accordance with the established in DPC of respective EC and by the SCEE Managing Council.