Public Ministry (Portugal)

Last updated
Public Prosecution Service
Ministério Público
Ministerio Publico.png
Body of magistrates overview
Formed1832
Jurisdiction Portugal
Headquarters Lisbon
Body of magistrates executive
  • Lucília Maria das Neves Franco Morgadinho Gago, Prosecutor General of the Republic [1]
Website en.ministeriopublico.pt

The Public Prosecution Service (Portuguese : Ministério Público) or MP is the body of the Judiciary of Portugal responsible for the public prosecution and the representation of the State before the courts. It is an hierarchic organized body, composed of magistrates and headed by the Procurador-Geral da República (attorney-general of the Republic).

Portuguese language Romance language that originated in Portugal

Portuguese is a Western Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea and Macau in China. As the result of expansion during colonial times, a cultural presence of Portuguese and Portuguese creole speakers are also found in Goa, Daman and Diu in India; in Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka; in the Indonesian island of Flores; in the Malacca state of Malaysia; and the ABC islands in the Caribbean where Papiamento is spoken, while Cape Verdean Creole is the most widely spoken Portuguese-based Creole. Reintegrationists maintain that Galician is not a separate language, but a dialect of Portuguese. A Portuguese-speaking person or nation is referred to as "Lusophone" (Lusófono).

Judiciary of Portugal

The Judiciary of Portugal is a system of courts that together constitute one of the four organs of Sovereignty as defined by the Portuguese Constitution. The courts are independent from the other three Portuguese organs of Sovereignty.

Contents

Although having the word "ministry" in its name, the MP is not a ministry in the sense of government department.

A ministry is a governmental organisation, headed by a minister, that is meant to manage a specific sector of public administration. Governments may have differing numbers and types of ministries, but the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary notes that all states have a Ministry of Interior, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Ministry of Defense, a Ministry of Justice and a Ministry of Finance. A Ministry of Education or similar is also commonly present.

Roles

Among others, the Portuguese Constitution and the common law give the following roles to the Public Prosecution Service:

Organization

The superior body of the Public Prosecution Service is the Procuradoria-Geral da República (attorney-general's office), presided by the Procurador-Geral da República (PGR).

The PGR is the only magistrate of the Public Prosecution Service that is politically designated, being proposed by the Government and appointed by the President of the Republic for six years in office. The PGR is also the only magistrate of the Public Prosecution Service that can be chosen from among persons that previously were not magistrates, the person chosen not even being mandatory linked to any area of recruitment or having a specific training. However, in practice, most of the persons appointed for the office of PGR came from the career magistracy.

Government of Portugal

The Government of Portugal is one of the four sovereignty bodies of the Portuguese Republic, together with the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic and the courts. It is both the body of sovereignty that conducts the general politics of the country and the superior body of the Portuguese public administration.

President of Portugal position

The President of the Portuguese Republic is the executive head of state of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the Prime Minister and cabinets have over time differed with the various Portuguese constitutions.

Under the Procuradoria-Geral da Reública there are also four procuradorias-gerais distritais (district attorneys-general's offices) and 23 procuradorias da República (attorney's offices). The first ones represent the Public Prosecution Service in the courts of second instance and the last ones in the courts of first instance.

For the role of directing the criminal investigation, each of the Public Prosecution Service offices includes a department of investigation and prosecution, composed of attorneys specially dedicated to the investigation of the most serious crimes. For the criminal investigation, the Public Prosecution Service also controls the activity of the Judiciary Police.

Polícia Judiciária police organization responsible for major criminal investigations in Portugal

The Polícia Judiciária is the national criminal investigation police agency of Portugal, focused in fighting serious crimes, including homicides, kidnapping, organized crime, terrorism, illegal drug trade, corruption, cybercrime and financial crime. It is integrated into the Ministry of Justice, but operates under the supervision of the Public Ministry.

Public Prosecution Service magistrates

The attorneys of the Public Prosecution Service are magistrates as the judges, but constitute a parallel and independent body from the Portuguese Judicial Magistracy.

The career of the magistrates of the Public Prosecution Service includes the following categories: procurador-geral-adjunto (deputy attorney-general), procurador da República (attorney) and procurador-adjunto (deputy attorney).

The Procurador-Geral da República (attorney-general) has also the status of the magistrate while in office, but it is not mandatory that he or she had been a Public Prosecution Service magistrate before being appointed for the role. Regarding the Vice-Procurador-Geral da República (vice-attorney-general), he or she is a magistrate with mandatory origin in the Public Prosecution Service career magistracy.

The Public Prosecution Service is represented by the Procurador-Geral da República and by procuradores-gerais-adjuntos before the Supreme Court of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court and the Accountants Court. It is represented by procuradores-gerais-adjuntos before the relações and the central administrative courts. Before the first instance courts, it is represented by procuradores-gerais-adjuntos, procuradores da República and procuradores-adjuntos.

The access to the career of Public Prosecution Service magistrate obeys to the same previous conditions as the access to the careers of judges, also implying the graduation in the Centro de Estudos Judiciários (Center of Judiciary Studies).

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References

  1. http://en.ministeriopublico.pt/node/4084