Paula Maria von Hafe Teixeira da Cruz (June 1, 1960 in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

lawyer and politician. She served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

in the government led by

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 118th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) b ...

from 2011 to 2015.

Early life

She was born in

in 1960. Her father was Augusto Teixeira da Cruz and her mother was Maria Susana Casanho von Hafe, whose father was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. Leaving Angola in 1975 due to the events of the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

(1974) she attended Liceu Padre António Vieira, in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and graduated in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the Universidade Livre de Lisboa in 1983. Until 1987, she taught at the same university, as well in the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa, as assistant of

Administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

. She ministered the same course a
Instituto de Estudos Superiores Financeiros e Fiscais
between 1991 and 1992. A lawyer since 1992, she had an office in Garrett Street, in

. In 2006 she joine
F. Castelo Branco & Associados
where she coordinated the Department of Public, Administrative and Environmental Law. She's also arbiter at Centro de Mediação, Peritagens e Arbitragens Voluntárias do Conselho Nacional de Profissões Liberais. She was a member o
Conselho Superior da Magistratura
(Superior Council of Magistracy, 2003–2005), of General Council of the

Portuguese Bar Association The Order of Attorneys of Portugal ( pt, Ordem dos Advogados), also known as the Portuguese Bar Association, is the public association to which all attorneys-at-law belong in Portugal, founded in 1926. Its early origins are found on a private as ...

(2002–2005) and o
Superior Council of the Public Ministry
(1999–2003). She's a member of th
Association for the Advancement of Law
ref> and th
Abraço Association
(association of support to people with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

) along with Paula Policarpo, José Amaral Lopes and Margarida Martins.

Career as politician

Paula Teixeira da Cruz is a member of

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

since 1995. She was as councilwoman in Lisbon (1998–2002) and President of the Municipal Assembly of Lisbon (2005–2009). She is vice-president of the National Committee of the Social Democratic Party under the leadership of

, position she also held between 2005 and 2006, under the leadership of

Luís Marques Mendes Luís Manuel Gonçalves Marques Mendes, GCIH (born 5 September 1957, in Guimarães, Azurém) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, and a former Leader of the Social Democratic Party. Background He is a son of António Marques Mendes and wife Ma ...

. After

2011 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2011. * Local electoral calendar 2011 * National electoral calendar 2011 * 2011 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2011 Beninese presidential election * 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...

she was appointed as Minister of Justice in the new coalition government.

Personal life

Paula Teixeira da Cruz is divorced since October 1, 2008, from the businessman and former CEO of

Banco Comercial Português Portuguese Commercial Bank ( pt, Banco Comercial Português, BCP) is a Portuguese bank that was founded in 1985 and is the largest private bank in the country. BCP is a member of the Euronext 100 stock index and its current chief executive officer ...

Paulo Teixeira Pinto, whom she married in 1984 and with whom she had a daughter, Catarina, born in 1984, and a son, Paulo Guilherme, born in 1986, who died on November 1, 2008. She is a supporter of

drug liberalization Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug ...

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and

same-sex adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child ( stepchild adoption). Joint adoption by same-sex cou ...

References

External links

GeneAll.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Paula Teixeira Da Justice ministers of Portugal Government ministers of Portugal Living people 20th-century Portuguese lawyers Portuguese women lawyers 1960 births Women government ministers of Portugal Female justice ministers 21st-century Portuguese lawyers