BackOn 2 December 2021, at 12.30 pm, Professor Maria Lúcia da Conceição Abrantes Amaral took up her post in Parliament as Ombudsman for a second mandate, in a ceremony presided over by His Excellency the President of the Assembly of the Republic.
Under the terms of the provisions established in no. 3 of article 23 of the Constitution, on 19 November 2021, the Assembly of the Republic elected Maria Lúcia Amaral for a new mandate as Ombudsman, with 176 votes in favour, 30 white votes and 2 null votes, from a total of 208 voters.
The vote, and subsequent election, took place two days after the candidate’s hearing before the Commission for Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.
Under the provisions of article 163, paragraph h) of the Constitution, the election of the Ombudsman requires a two-thirds majority of the deputies present, provided that it is higher than the absolute majority of the deputies in full exercise of their office.
Maria Lúcia Amaral was born in Angola on 10 June, 1957. She is a jurist, full professor at the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and was a member of the Constitutional Court for nine years, between April 2007 and July 2016. She has dedicated her academic life to the study and teaching of Public Law, and in particular to the study and teaching of Constitutional Law. She is the author of several studies in this specific field of knowledge, being part of international scientific associations dedicated to it.
She was first elected Ombudsman by the Assembly of the Republic on 20 October 2017, having taken office on 2 November of the same year.
Source: Office of the Provedor de Justiça, Portugal
