Español Português

You are here

County District Prosecutor’s Offices

The judicial system implemented on 01 September 2014 pursuant to Law No. 62/2013 of 26 August 2013 caused the national territory to be divided into 23 judicial counties [Açores, Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Lisboa Norte, Lisboa Oeste, Madeira, Portalegre, Porto, Porto Este, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu]. Both the seat/territorial area of intervention of the judicial counties — which corresponds to the seat of the administrative districts as a rule — and their composition are governed by Decree-Law No. 49/2014 of 27 March 2014.

Each of these judicial counties has its first instance court (named ‘county court’), which is divided into chambers (which may be of specialized competence (the following can be created: central civil; local civil; central criminal; local criminal; petty crime; family and minors, labour, commerce and recovery) and of generic competence and proximity competence), articles 33 and 81 Law N.º 62/2013 of 26 august).

At the seat of each county (marked on the map) there is a County District Prosecutors’ Office which is entrusted with the leadership, the management, the operation, the co-ordination and the supervision of the Public Prosecution Service’s activities and services in that circumscription (articles 73(1) and 74 of the Statute of the Public Prosecution Service/SPPS).

Each County District Prosecutor’s Office comprises the County District Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution and the District Prosecutors' Offices of specialized jurisdiction, generic jurisdiction, proximity and territorial jurisdiction courts (Article 73(2) of the SPPS).

The County District Prosecutor’s Office is being led by a co-ordinating member of the Public Prosecution Service (ranked as deputy prosecutor general or state prosecutor), who is appointed, on temporary assignment, by the High Council of the Public Prosecution Service (article 162 of the SPPS).