Profile

Jurist. Holds a Law degree, postgraduate, and PhD in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. Achieved Agregação in Constitutional Law from the Faculty of Law of the NOVA University of Lisbon in 2007. Full Professor at the same Faculty since 2009. Served as a member of the Constitutional Court between 2007 and 2016. Ombudsperson (Provedora de Justiça) since 2017.
As a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, my primary area of study has always been Public Law, particularly Constitutional Law, in close connection with political philosophy, the history of ideas, and modern state theory. My master’s thesis focused on the role of interest groups in political functions. Its precise title was: The Problem of the Political Function of Interest Groups: From Pluralism to Neo-Corporatism. In turn, my PhD dissertation examined a specific aspect of State liability theory: State Liability and the Legislator’s Duty to Compensate.
My Agregação work, which remains unpublished, addressed various issues of constitutional justice, a field that intersects state theory, constitutional law, the history of ideas, and key topics in political philosophy. I never published the research that supported my Agregação due to my subsequent assumption of long-term responsibilities in state institutions, which continue to occupy me to this day.
My first published works date back to 1984, appearing in national legal journals. Given their volume, listing them all is impossible. However, I highlight those that, in my view, best reflect my academic path: A Forma da República (The Form of the Republic), Coimbra Editora, 2006 (republished by Gestlegal in 2012) and Constituição, os Limites da Política (Constitution: The Limits of Politics), published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation in 2024.