Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco
 Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco    (lawyer, politician) | |
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| Born | José Pedro Aguiar-Branco 18 July 1957 Porto, Portugal |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Alma mater | University of Coimbra |
| Party | Social Democratic Party (Portugal) |
José Pedro Correia de Aguiar-Branco is a Portuguese lawyer and politician.
Background
He is the son of lawyer Fernando Aguiar-Branco and his wife, Maria Laura de Amorim Rebelo Teixeira de Andrade e Castro.
He graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra in 1980. He married on September 6, 1980, to Maria Helena Moura Soares, with whom he has five children.
Career
He was admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association in 1982, he joined the law firm started by his father, Aguiar-Branco & Associados. Later, he founded his own law firm in Porto, JPAB & Associados, with an office also in Lisbon.
In addition to being a lawyer, he has acted as an arbitrator in various mediation centers and has been chairman of the general meetings of commercial companies such as Semapa, Portucel and Impresa, among others.
He held the positions of vice-president of the National Association of Young Portuguese Lawyers (1988-1991), president of the Porto District Council of the Portuguese Bar Association (2002-2004) and member of the Superior Council for the Judiciary (2000-2004).
Political activity
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco awakened to politics in the period immediately following the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974. He was a member of the JSD National Council (1977-1984), of the Jurisdiction Council (1976 and 1995-1997), of the National Council (1982-1984 and 1988-1990) and the Political Commission (1996-1998 and 2007-2010) of the PSD.
Three times Aguiar-Branco was appointed member of governments formed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) — he was Minister of Justice in the government of Pedro Santana Lopes ( 2004-2005 ) and, later, Minister of National Defense in the two governments of Pedro Passos Coelho.[1] He is the author of several reforms in the Defense sector, including the reform of the Military College. He was responsible for closing the Odivelas Institute, a military school for young girls.
By the PSD, Aguiar-Branco was also elected to municipal and parliamentary functions; he was president of the Municipal Assembly of Porto (2005-2009) and deputy to the Assembly of the Republic (2005-2009), where he became leader of the parliamentary group of his party (2009-2010), after the departure of Paulo Rangel.
In 2010 Aguiar-Branco ran for president of the PSD, but lost.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2006 | 8 June 2006 | 11 June 2006 | Canada Ottawa | 54th Bilderberg, held in Canada. 133 guests |
