Government appoints Ravi Pereira as director of CEJURE and Mariana Alvim as deputy director

The Council of Ministers has appointed Ravi Fernando Pina Afonso Pereira to the position of director and Mariana Sacadura Cabral de Sousa e Alvim to the position of deputy director of the State Legal Center (CEJURE). The decision is contained in the Council of Ministers Resolution no. 212/2026, signed by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, on October 29 and published in the Diário da República, 1st series, no. 212, of November 2, 2026, in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers section. The resolution comes into force on the day following its publication, namely November 3.

CEJURE is led by a director, assisted by three deputy directors, which are senior management positions of the 1st and 2nd degrees, respectively. The appointment follows the regime of the Public Manager Statute, approved by Decree-Law no. 71/2007, of March 27, and the provisions of articles 6 and 7 of Decree-Law no. 68/2024, of October 8, which restructured the organization. The Recruitment and Selection Commission for Public Administration was consulted and issued a favorable opinion on the two appointments.

The vacancy in the directorship results from the termination of the secondment of the director then in office, verified under point b) of paragraph 1 of article 25 of Law no. 2/2004, of January 15. The deputy director position was created by Decree-Law no. 150/2026, of July 28, which reinforced the management of CEJURE with a third deputy director to ensure transversal strategic coordination, “given the growth and consolidation of the duties of this service.” The previous management team had been appointed by Council of Ministers Resolution no. 179/2024, of December 6, for three-year terms.

Profiles of the appointees

The annex to the resolution, which is an integral part of the decree, outlines the curricula:

• Ravi Fernando Pina Afonso Pereira holds a law degree from the Nova University of Lisbon Faculty of Law (2004) and has been a consultant at CEJURE since 2026.
• He served as Deputy Ombudsman (2022-2026) and as an assistant in the office of the Ombudsman (2018-2022).
• He worked in the offices of the judges of the Constitutional Court (2009-2012) and in the office of the Vice-President of the same court (2012-2016).
• He was a lecturer at the Lisbon School of the Catholic University of Portugal Faculty of Law (2016-2019) and a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute, Yale Law School, and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
• Mariana Sacadura Cabral de Sousa e Alvim holds a law degree (2002) and a master’s degree (2007) from the University of Lisbon Faculty of Law and is a doctoral candidate at the Catholic University.
• She served as an assistant in the offices of the Minister of Solidarity, Employment and Social Security and the Secretary of State for Internal Administration (2011-2015), and in the office of the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (2024-2025).
• She served as an external expert for the European Parliament (2017-2021), a lawyer at MLGTS (2005-2010), and a consultant at Sérvulo & Associados (2021-2024).
• She was a level 1 associate in 2025 and deputy director of CEJURE on an acting basis between 2025 and 2026.

A body with the power to establish interpretations

The appointment is published on the same day that Decree-Law no. 207/2026 amends Decree-Law no. 68/2024 and creates the Board of Consultants, a body chaired by the director of CEJURE and composed of deputy directors and consultants. Its responsibility is to propose determinations on legal issues relevant to administrative activity, which, once approved by the Prime Minister, become binding for all organs of the State’s direct and indirect administration.

The new regime also allows for these bodies to be required to correct conduct already adopted, specifically those that are the subject of litigation in pending lawsuits. The director of CEJURE’s authority to submit proposals can only be exercised at the request of a member of the Government or the top executive of an administrative service. The Board of Consultants meets ordinarily twice a month and possesses functional independence when proposing binding determinations.

Authorized accumulation and mandates

The resolution authorizes both appointees to accumulate their functions with higher education teaching and participation in conferences, lectures, and short-term training actions, under the terms of the General Labor Law for Public Functions, approved by Law no. 35/2014 of June 20, and Law no. 52/2019 of July 31.

The management of CEJURE is thus complete, with one director and three deputy directors, a structure defined by Decree-Law no. 68/2024 and reinforced in July 2026. The resolution takes effect as of November 3, 2026.

The change in direction occurs at a decisive moment for the legal function of the State: CEJURE now has a mechanism that can standardize legal positions across the entire Administration, including the duty not to prolong litigation against already established understandings. For public services and for private individuals litigating with the State, the guidance outlined by the new leadership and the Board of Consultants will have practical effects on the conduct of court proceedings.

Source: Diário da República, 1st series, no. 212, of November 2, 2026, Presidency of the Council of Ministers (official reference: Council of Ministers Resolution no. 212/2026).