this paper describes the private law rules included in law n.o 14/2008, analysing their impact on the freedom of contract, as well as their compliance with directive 2004/113/ce (the latter being transposed into the portuguese law by the first). the legal solutions provided to prevent discrimination based on sex, before and after a transaction takes place, are separately assessed. the foundations of the law and the need of such private autonomy restrictions through infra-constitutional statutory law are also briefly analysed.