The Public Prosecution Service performs its consultative duties through the Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office.

The Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office is composed of the Attorney General for the Republic, who presides thereto, and of Deputy Attorneys General, whose number is set out in a schedule approved by the Minister of Justice upon proposal of the Superior Council of the Public Prosecution  Service. Currently the Consultative Council is composed of nine members.

The significance and specificity meanwhile acquired by the consultative duties,  initially incumbent on the Attorney General,   have thus justified the acquisition of their own structure  presided over by the Attorney General. The Public Prosecutors' intervention follows  closely the procedural rules applied to the courts.

Such evolution can not be dissociated from the history of the Portuguese institutions involved in consultative matters.

The existance of consultative bodies by the State supreme organs has been an experience constantly put in practice. Most countries have consultative bodies known in Europe as the 'conseil d'Etat'. In some cases these bodies form the administrative section of a jurisdictional structure responsible for the administrative litigious matters (which is, namely, the case of  Belgium and France) while in other cases (such as Spain) they act as an autonomous body.

In Portugal the consultative powers can be traced with King Afonso III. Being granted, at first,  the materially political duties, the conseil bodies developed and, in the 16th century, they already comprised all the State affairs on which the King wished to hear them, namely the foreign affairs.

The 1826 Constitutional Charter restored the State council and, inspired by the French exemple,  granted it the consultative duties of a not exclusively political nature. The fulfillment by the State Council of consultative duties in administrative matters was later on subject to modifications introduced by the Order 23, dated the 16th of May, 1832, by the Act dated the 3rd of May, 1845, and by the regulations dated the 16th of July, 1845.

This organisation lasted until 1870, when the duties regarding the litigious matters began ti be fulfilled by the Supreme Administrative Court, and the consultative duties began to be carried out by the Attorney General's Office.

The Order dated the 29th of July, 1886, gave back the consultative duties to the Supreme Administrative Court until 1924, when that the Supreme Administrative Court was dissolved. This Court was restored by Order 11.250, dated the 19th of November 1925, although bearing simply the jurisdictional duties.

The consultative powers of the Supreme Administrative Court were only conferred a true value during the first phase, i.e. until 1870. Except for a short period (1886 to 1901) the consultative powers of this Court were fulfilled under a legal concurrence along with those of the Attorney General's Office.

In fact article 6(3) of the Order dated the 29th of July, 1886, set out that "the consultative powers granted to the Attorney General, assisted by his deputies pursuant to article 6 of Order dated the 9th of June, 1870, shall be fulfilled by the Court pursuant to this article  and its paragraphs".

The truth is that the consultative duties of the Attorney General for the Crown  had never been extinguished; the reform of Campos Henriques (1900) did recover them by givng them an intitutional cover, although they were limited to the interpretation and the implementation of the laws.

This definition - on the legal nature of the consultations - shaped definitely the character of the consultative powers of the Public Prosecution Service. It is not easy to formulate a final opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of systems so closely connected to the political organisation of the State and to its traditions. Theoretically it can be said that the concentration on the same body - the Public Prosecution Service - of the consultative and repressive powers shall tend to reflect on the trust of the persons having sought consultation, who inevitably shall avoid to uncover any situation likely to be unlawful. However, being known that a handful of systems ascribe the consultative powers to the jurisdictions responsible for the decision making process, this objection proves those situations, while, on the other hand, it forgets that, as regards the seeking of legality - an institutional goal of both the Public Prosecution Service and the Government - the prevention plays a similar, or even grater, role that the repression.

Furthermore, it must be considered that the institutions are, at large, the result of their history and that, in Portugal, this dimension resulteed into a balanced relationship which did not put at stake the trust of the persons seeking for the consultation, nor did it jeopardise the autonomy and the efficiency of the repressive duties of the Public Prosecution Service.

It can always be argued that the current powers of the Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office are translated into a legal analysis, basically on the legality, lacking the common dimension of the French 'conseil d'Etat'.

In fact, it is incumbent on the Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office _

(a) To issue its opinions as to the legality in consultation cases set out in the law, or upon the request of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, or the Government;

(b) To give its opinion, upon the Government's request, on the structure and the legal contents of any bills;

(c)To give its opinions on the legality of the agreements in which the State is interested, should its legal opinion be required by law or by the Government;

(d)To inform the Government, through the Minister of Justice, of any obscurities, deficiencies or contradictions in the legal texts and to propose the necessary amendments thereto;

(e)To give its opinions as to the questions which the Attorney General, while carrying out his duties, submits to its appreciation;

(f) To approve  the internal regulations.

It must be stressed that, although the law determines that  consultations are within the scope of to the Government and the Attorney General, it has been a practice for the Assembly of the Republic, through its president, to request consultations from the Council, namely through the legal auditor by the Assembly.

The legal opinions issued by the Consultative Council play a relevant role on the uniformity of the case-law and on the clarification of the laws.

On the one hand, the Attorney general may establish that the doctrine contained in the legal opinions is to be followed and sustained by the Public Prosecution Service, thus compelling the magistrates to lodge an appeal whenever a jurisdictional decision is contrary to such doctrine and allowing the uniformity of the case-law.

On the other hand, where approved by the Government members or the entities who have acquired them, the legal opinions of the Consultative Council on generic provisions are published in the Official gazette Diário da República, thus becoming an official interpretation of the matters they intend to clarify. If the object of the consultation interests two or more ministries which do not agree upon the approval of the legal opinion, such approval is incumbent on the Prime Minister.

The Consultative Council of the Attorney General's Office is currently composed of_

President: the Attorney General for the Republic

• José Adriano Machado Souto de Moura

Members: Deputy Attorneys General

The legal opinions of the Consultative Council are to be found in a database available on the Internet.

The publication in a specific edition and divided into themes, of the legal opinions corresponding to the last twenty years is being prepared.