Catarina Sarmento e Castro

Catarina Teresa Rola Sarmento e Castro (born 16 May 1970) is a Portuguese jurist and politician. As a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS), she became a deputy in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic in the January 2022 Portuguese legislative election, representing Leiria. Between 2019 and 2022 she served as Secretary of State for Human Resources and Former Combatants. A professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Coimbra, she has also served as a judge in the Constitutional Court. She was appointed Minister of Justice in March 2022, following the 2022 Portuguese legislative election, when the PS won an overall majority, but lost the position after the March 2024 elelction, when the PS was defeated and the Democratic Alliance formed the government.