Portuguese law professor and Ombudsman (born 1957)
Maria Lúcia Amaral (born 10 June 1957) is a Portuguese lawyer, university professor, politician and judge. She was vice-president of the Constitutional Court of Portugal and is Portugal's 10th Ombudsman, being the first woman to hold this post.
Early life.
Maria Lúcia da Conceição Abrantes Amaral was born on 10 June 1957 in the city of Huambo, formerly known as Nova Lisboa in Angola, which was at the time a Portuguese colony. She graduated in law in 1980, from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and obtained a master's in legal and political sciences in 1986 and a PhD in constitutional law in 1998 from the same faculty. While studying she was also working at Lisbon University and at the Catholic University of Portugal.
Career.
After receiving a doctorate, Amaral pursued an academic career as a professor at the NOVA University Lisbon from 1998, becoming a full professor in 2008. She taught and also published a wide range of publications. In March 2007 she was elected as a judge of the Constitutional Court by the Assembly of the Republic and served on the court for nine years. She was elected vice president by her fellow judges in October 2012. The court was involved in several notable constitutional issues, particularly relating to some of the austerity measures of the then government of Pedro Passos Coelho. Her attitude to the constitutionality of austerity, in which her broad view was that this was not a constitutional issue, often put her at odds with the other members of the court.
In November 2017, Amaral took office as Portugal's Ombudsman. She was nominated by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) with the support of the governing Portuguese Socialist Party (PS). She received the necessary two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly, with only seven votes against. In her inaugural speech she promised "independence from power", "constant vigilance" and "firm obedience to the fundamental rights of the people".
In March 2024, Amaral stated she planned to ask the Portuguese Constitutional Court to declare legislation that decriminalised euthanasia to be unconstitutional.
Publications.
Amaral is editor of the law journal, "Themis", which is published by the NOVA University.. Among her many contributions to this and other journals are:
References.
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