Francisca Eugénia da Silva Dias Van Dunem (born 5 November 1955) is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n-born

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 who served as the Portuguese

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 ...

from 26 November 2015 to 30 March 2022, in António Costa's XXI and XXII Constitutional Governments, and Minister of Internal Administration from 4 December 2021 to 30 March 2022. Van Dunem is Portugal's first black government minister in history.

Early life and education

Van Dunem was born in 1955 in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

, then the capital of the Portuguese

Overseas Province of Angola Overseas may refer to: * ''Overseas'' (album), a 1957 album by pianist Tommy Flanagan and his trio * Overseas (band), an American indie rock band * "Overseas" (song), a 2018 song by American rappers Desiigner and Lil Pump * "Overseas" (Tee Grizzley ...

. She went to Lisbon in the early 1970s in order to study law at the University of Lisbon. In April 1974, the Portuguese Estado Novo regime was overthrown by a left-wing military coup and in 1975 Angola become a newly independent communist state - the

People's Republic of Angola The People's Republic of Angola () was the self-declared socialist state which governed Angola from its independence in 1975 until 25 August 1992, during the Angolan Civil War. History The regime was established in 1975, after Portuguese A ...

. Her brother José Van Dunem was murdered in a

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

occurred in

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho da Silva Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ...

's post-independence Angola that same year. Francisca did not return to Angola and pursued a family life and a professional career in Portugal. Van Dunem holds a degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

, awarded in 1977. She was subject to competitive examination for the Portuguese Public Prosecutor's office in 1979.Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Portugal
, Council of Europe (4 June 2004)

Professional career

Van Dunem's most relevant professional activities included judicial activities such as Trainee Deputy

Public Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

(Lisbon and

Loures Loures () is a city and a municipality in Portugal which is part of the District and Metropolitan area of Lisbon. It is the fifth most populous municipality in the country, with a total population of 201,632. History There was early human sett ...

courts) (1979-1980); Deputy Public Prosecutor (Lisbon Labour Court) (1980-1983); Deputy Public Prosecutor (Lisbon Criminal Court) (1983-1985); Deputy Public Prosecutor (Lisbon Public Prosecution Service) (1987-1989); member of the Principal State Prosecutor's private law firm (1989-2001); and Deputy Principal State Prosecutor, Director of the Lisbon Public Prosecution Service (since 2001). Van Dunem first served as Minister of Justice in the 21st Portuguese government (2015-2019). In early 2021, Van Dunem faced calls for resignation amid revelations that her ministry had overstated the qualifications of its nominee for Portugal’s seat at the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). In 4 December 2021 Van Dunem was nominated as Minister of Internal Administration after Eduardo Cabrita's resignation, heading both Ministries of

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

and Internal Administration.''Diário da República'' no. 234-A/2021, Ist Series (Official Gazette) https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/diario-republica/234-a-2021-175399138

Personal life

Van Dunem is married and has one son. They live in the

Greater Lisbon Grande Lisboa () or Greater Lisbon is a former Portuguese NUTS III subregion integrated in the Lisboa Region. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision. It is part of the historical Estremadura Province. It includes the capital and ...

area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dunem, Francisca Living people 1955 births Portuguese women lawyers People from Luanda University of Lisbon alumni Women government ministers of Portugal Justice ministers of Portugal Female justice ministers Portuguese people of Angolan descent Independent politicians in Portugal 21st-century Portuguese women politicians 21st-century Portuguese politicians