Magistrates Carlos Alexandre, Filipe Vilarinho Marques and José Ranito are the names sent by the Ministry of Justice (MdJ) to the Council of the European Union as the final national candidates for the post of European Public Prosecutor, the MdJ revealed today.
Responding to the Lusa news agency, the Ministry of Justice said it had on Friday forwarded to the Council of the European Union the names of the candidates previously shortlisted by the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) and the Superior Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (CSMP), so that they could be heard by a European Union selection committee, in accordance with European regulations on the appointment of the European National Prosecutor.
After all the candidates (five) had been heard in the Portuguese Parliament, the Ministry of Justice states that Portugal “has nominated Judge Carlos Manuel Lopes Alexandre, Judge Filipe César Vilarinho Marques and Public Prosecutor José António Lopes Ranito as national candidates for the post of European Public Prosecutor”.
The candidacy and selection process for the successor to Prosecutor José Guerra, whose term as Portuguese European Prosecutor ends in July, has been marked by controversy and twists and turns, with candidates withdrawing, as was the case with Judge Ivo Rosa, who joined the Central Criminal Investigation Court (TCIC) and led the investigation of the “Operation Marquês” mega-trial, among others.
On July 27, 2020, José Guerra was appointed European National Prosecutor at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, an independent body with the power to investigate, prosecute and support charges in investigations and trials against the perpetrators of criminal offenses affecting the Union’s financial interests, such as fraud, corruption or cross-border VAT fraud worth millions of euros.
