Paula Meira Lourenço
Professor Dr. Paula Meira Lourenço is the current President of the Portuguese Data Protection Authority (CNPD), having taken office on the 11 May 2023, after being elected President by the Portuguese Parliament.
Professor Dr. Paula Meira Lourenço holds a PhD in Law, from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (since 2018), specializing in Civil Law Sciences, with a dissertation titled “The Guarantees of a due process of law in civil proceedings”, and a Master in Laws, from the same institution, with a dissertation titled “The punitive function of civil liability” (since 2003). She has been an Assistant Professor of Legal Sciences at the same Law Faculty since 2018, where she has been teaching since 1996.
Previously, she was elected President of the Commission for the Efficiency of Enforcement Procedures (CPEE), from April 2009 to April 2012, and was appointed as a Member of the Board of the Telecom National Regulator (ANACOM), from February 2018 to May 2023.
She also worked as Legal Adviser for several Members of the Portuguese Government, such as the Secretary of for Home Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (2005-2009) and the Deputy Secretary of State of the Minister of Justice (2000-2002). Additionally, she practiced law between 1996 and 2000, and was a legal Adviser in the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (since 2002).
She is a Member of various scientific organizations, including the Scientific Council of the «Union Internationale des Huissiers de Justice» (since 2008) and the Private Law Research Centre at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (since 2014).
Fluent in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, she has been a regular Keynote Speaker in various forums, conferences and seminars, at national and international level, in the fields of Data Protection, Telecommunications, Civil Procedural Law, Contract Law, Labour Law, among others. She is the author of several books and articles.
