The Judicial Academy is a public law corporation created in November, 1994, by parliamentary Act Nº 19. 346.

The Academy has as a mission to select and train the future members of the primary layer of the Judiciary, as well as to provide continuous training to all judiciary employees. It is mainly concerned with the development of competences required for the judicial tasks, particularly those which are not delivered in undergraduate training and directly or jointly with third parties performs diverse activities in pursuit of excellence of the judicial function.

To pursue its mission, the Judicial Academy has an Initial Training Program (for applicants to the Judiciary), a Continuous Training Program (for members of the Judiciary) and a legal required training program for candidates to be Justices at the High Courts or judicial prosecutors (Habilitation Program) and directly or jointly with third parties performs diverse activities in pursuit of excellence of the judicial function.

The Judicial Prosecutor’s Office is part of the Judiciary (different from the prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, responsible for criminal prosecution). It is a supporting institution of the administration of justice, which is exercised by the Judicial Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, who is the head of the service, and by the judicial prosecutors of the Courts of Appeals. The functions of the judicial prosecutor’s office are limited to judicial matters and those of an administrative nature of the State, in which a law especially requires its intervention.