Glossary

The Procuradoria-Geral da República [Prosecutor General’s Office], the Procuradorias-Gerais Distritais [District Prosecutor General’s Offices] and the Procuradorias da República [Public Prosecutor’s Offices] are part of the Public Prosecution Service.

The Public Prosecution Service is independent from the other legislative, executive and judicial powers, at local, regional and central authority level. Its autonomy means that the Public Prosecution Service is bound by criteria of lawfulness and objectivity and that the public prosecutors must only follow the directives, orders and instructions laid down by the statute of the Public Prosecution Service.

The Departamento Central de Investigação e Acção Penal (DCIAP) [Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution] is a body responsible for co-ordinating and conducting investigations, as well as for preventing violent, highly organized or special complex crime.

It is composed of a procurador-geral adjunto [deputy prosecutor general], procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] and is headed by the procurador-geral adjunto.

It operates under the superintendence of the Procuradoria-Geral da República [Prosecutor General’s Office].

As regards the first instance, the country is divided into 23 comarcas. Each one of them has a court indicated by the sede de comarca (seat of the judicial region) where it is situated.

The comarcas are: Azores, Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora and Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Lisbon North, Lisbon West, Madeira, Portalegre, Santarém, O’Porto, O’Porto East, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu.

The Procuradoria-Geral da República [Prosecutor General’s Office] exercises advisory functions through its Consultative Council. It’s responsible for giving opinion solely on questions of lawfulness where consultation is required by law or upon request of the President of the Assembleia da República or of the Government; deliberates on the preparation and legal content of draft legislative texts upon request of the Government; deliberates on the lawfulness of contracts that are of interest to the State, where its opinion is required by law or requested by the Government; inform the Government, through the Minister of Justice, about any contradictions or obscurities, deficiencies in legal texts and propose the necessary amendments thereto; and deliberate on questions which the Prosecutor General, in the performance of his/her duties, submits to it.

It is composed of the Prosecutor General and councillors. These council vacancies are filled by procuradores-gerais adjuntos [deputy prosecutors general], judges, public prosecutors and other jurists who request it.

The Consultative Council’ opinions on general provisions are published in the 2ª série do Diário da República [official gazette] to be construed as an official interpretation of the issues those opinions were meant to clarify, upon approval by the entities that have requested them or by those belonging to the sector affected by the issue analyzed.

If two or more ministries concern themselves with the subject of consultation and they disagree over the opinion’s approval, the matter is referred to the Prime Minister for approval.

The public prosecutor in charge of the Procuradoria da República [Public Prosecutor’s Office]. The Public Prosecution Service has such a body in each comarca [judicial region].

He/she is appointed by the Conselho Superior do Ministério Público [High Council of the Public Prosecution Service] on a three-year secondment from among the public prosecutors who meet the following criteria:

a) Have effectively performed duties as procurador-geral adjunto [deputy prosecutor general] and having been rated as very good in the preceding performance assessment report; or

b) Have effectively performed duties as procurador da República [public prosecutor], have worked 15 years in the courts and having been rated as very good in the preceding performance assessment report.

The Departamentos de Investigação e Acção Penal (DIAP) [Departments of Investigation and Prosecution] are responsible for conducting the inquiry and institute legal proceedings in respect of criminal offences committed in their comarca [judicial region].

They can be headed by procuradores-gerais adjuntos [deputy prosecutors general] or procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and are composed of procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] and procuradores da República [public prosecutors].

Public prosecutors cannot make statements or comment upon cases, except with their superiors’ authorization, in order to defend the honour or ensure other legitimate interests.

Information related to material covered neither by the segredo de justiça [confidentiality of the inquiry], nor by the legal professional privilege, and aimed at ensuring legitimate rights and interests, such as the access to information, is not covered by the duty of confidentiality.

The Portuguese Public Prosecution Service performs multiple functions, all of which are judicial.

It represents the State, defends the interests established by law, participate in the implementation of the criminal policy set out by the organs of sovereignty, institutes and takes over the conduct of criminal proceedings, according to the principle of legality, and defends the democratic lawfulness, in accordance with the Constitution, its Statute and the law.

The Public Prosecution Service is particularly responsible for:

a) Representing the State, the Autonomous Regions, local authorities, disabled people, the unidentifiable or those whose whereabouts are not known;
b) Participating in the implementation of the criminal policy defined by by the organs of sovereignty;
c) Instituting and taking over the conduct of criminal proceedings, according to the principle of legality;
d) Securing legal representation for employees and their families in order to protect their social rights;
e) Defending collective and diffuse interests in the cases provided for in the law;
f) Defending the courts’ independence and make sure that the judicial function is discharged in accordance with the Constitution and the laws;
g) Promoting the enforcement of court decisions they can legitimately enforce;
h) Conducting criminal investigations, even when they are carried out by other entities;
i) Promoting and implementing crime prevention actions;
j) Reviewing the constitutionality of normative acts;
l) Intervening in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, as well as in all cases involving the public interest;
m) Exercising consultative functions, according to the law;
n) Monitoring the procedures followed by the criminal police forces;
o) Lodging an appeal where a court decision results from collusion by the parties with the intent to defraud law or where a court decision has been handed down in violation of an explicit law;
p) Exercising any other functions conferred by law.

Public prosecutors may not perform any other professional functions, whether public or private, other than teaching, legal research or decision-making functions in organizations representing the Public Prosecution Service magistracy. Teaching and legal research may be authorized provided that public prosecutors work unpaid and without prejudice to his/her service.

The Public Prosecution Service is independent from the other legislative, executive and judicial powers, at local, regional and central authority level.

The Gabinete de Documentação e Direito Comparado [Documentation and Comparative Law Office] operates under the superintendence of the Procuradoria-Geral da República [Prosecutor General’s Office] and, in addition to other functions, it is its duty to provide legal assistance; gather, treat and disseminate legal information, particularly in the field of European law, foreign law and international law; carry out studies and disseminate information on comparative law systems, without prejudice to the duties and powers conferred on other departments of the Ministry of Justice; co-operate in the organization and processing of documents produced by international organizations; assist and support the Public Prosecution Service within the framework of international legal and judicial and cooperation;

The hierarchy of authority of the Public Prosecution Service is exclusively internal. For public prosecutors it consists in reporting to their superiors in any given case, in accordance with the terms specified in the statute, and, consequently, in having to follow the directives, orders and instructions they have received. Only those who exercise powers of direction or coordination have hierarchical power. Thus, neither all procuradores-gerais-adjuntos [deputy prosecutors general] are the immediate superior of all procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors], nor all procuradores da República are the immediate superior of all procuradores-adjuntos.

Public prosecutors may ask their superior to put the order or instruction in writing. Whenever the order or instruction is deemed to take effect in a particular case, it must always be in writing. Public prosecutors must refuse to follow illegal directives, orders and instructions and they can do it on grounds of serious violation of their legal consciousness.

They may not refuse to follow:

a) Decisions taken by the senior levels of the hierarchy according to the procedural law;

b) The directives, orders and instructions issued by the Prosecutor General, except on grounds of illegality.

The Conselho Superior do Ministério Público [High Council the Public Prosecution Service], a part of the General Prosecutor’s Office, is the highest governing body responsible for managing, assessing and disciplining the Public Prosecution Service magistrates.

The Conselho Superior do Ministério Público is composed of:

a) The Prosecutor General;
b) The procuradores-gerais distritais [district prosecutors general];
c) One procurador-geral adjunto [deputy prosecutor general] elected by the deputy prosecutors general and from among their own number;
d) Two procuradores da República [public prosecutors] elected by the public prosecutors and from among their own number;
e) Four procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] elected by the deputy public prosecutors and from among their own number;
f) Five members elected by the Assembleia da República [Assembly of the Republic (parliament)];
g) Two persons of renown designated by the Minister of Justice.

The Minister of Justice attends the meetings of the Conselho Superior do Ministério Público [High Council the Public Prosecution Service], whenever it is deemed convenient, with a view to delivering speeches, as well as to seeking or providing clarification.

The Public Prosecution Service must always seek the truth, act and decide based upon objective and legal grounds, without using discretion and not influenced by the interests of the parties.

The autonomy of each public prosecutor.

It is built on four key pillars: each public prosecutor is bound by criteria of lawfulness and objectivity while performing his/her duties; he/she must only follow the directives, orders and instructions laid down by the statute and that are in accordance with the law; he/she must safeguard his/her legal consciousness (he/she can refuse to follow those directives, orders and instructions on grounds of serious violation of his/her legal consciousness); he/she has the right to employment stability (he/she cannot be transferred, suspended, forced to retire or dismissed except in the cases provided for in the law).

The deputy prosecutors general assigned to the Assembleia da República [Assembly of the Republic (parliament)], to each Ministry as well as to the Ministers of the Republic appointed to the Autonomous Regions, who provide legal advice and assistance upon request.

The four descriptors used by the Conselho Superior do Ministério Público [High Council of the Public Prosecution Service] to assess the performance of procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] according to their merit are very good, good with distinction, good, fair and poor.

The assessment shall take into account aspects such as the way magistrates carry out their role, their workload, the problems faced by their service, the conditions upon which work is done, as well as their technical expertise, intellectual level, the publication of legal studies and good civic repute. The assessment has effects on the career advancement. The descriptor poor shall result in disciplinary proceedings.

Like the judges, Public Prosecution Service agents are magistrates.

The Prosecutor General and the Deputy Prosecutor General, the procuradores-gerais adjuntos [deputy prosecutors general], procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] are Public Prosecution Service agents.

Public prosecutors cannot be transferred, suspended, promoted, forced to retire, dismissed or, in any other way, have their situation altered, except in the cases provided for in the Statute of the Public Prosecution Service.

The right to employment stability is a necessary corollary of the public prosecutors’ autonomy, and ensures that they can truly, at all times, act respecting only criteria of lawfulness and objectivity and refuse to follow directives, orders and instructions that are either illegal or gravely violate their legal consciousness.

Its structure comprises departments responsible for representing the State in court proceedings with a view to defending its asset-related interests, as well as to preparing, analyzing and monitoring forms of reaching out-of-court settlements of disputes involving the State.

It deals with civil and administrative matters or with both together.

It operates under the superintendence of the Procuradoria-Geral da República [Prosecutor General’s Office] or of the procuradorias-gerais distritais [district prosecutor general’s offices] depending on whether their territorial jurisdiction falls within or outside the boundaries of the judicial district.

Those departments are composed of procuradores da República [public prosecutors] and procuradores-adjuntos [deputy public prosecutors] and are headed by procuradores-gerais adjuntos [deputy prosecutors general].

They were never created, nor were they equipped.

Law establishing the powers, fundamental principles and organization of the Public Prosecution Service.

The current Estatuto do Ministério Público [Statute of the Public Prosecution Service] was approved by the law No. 47/86 of 15 October and, since then, several amendments have been made to it.