During Cavaco Silva’s administration, he became famous for the phrase “I am not a minister, I am just a being a minister.” After successful careers in the judiciary and politics, he became a novelist and had a literary prize named after him.

Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, best known for having been Minister of Justice in Cavaco Silva’s government in the 1990s, but with a long career in the judiciary, as a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Justice and, more recently, in literature, as the author of several novels and a book of memoirs, died at the age of 83.

Laborinho Lúcio was born in 1941 in Nazaré and studied in Coimbra, where he graduated in Law and later obtained a master’s degree in Legal and Civil Sciences.

A career magistrate, he served as a judge in several districts and later as a judge-counselor at the STJ. He was also a public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal of Coimbra, inspector of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, and director of the Judicial Police School and the Center for Judicial Studies.

Cavaco Silva invited him to join the government, first as Secretary of State for Judicial Administration and then as Minister of Justice, a position he held from 1990 until the end of Cavaco’s term in 1995. During this period, he became famous for a phrase he uttered in a newspaper interview: “I am not a minister, I am minister.”

After leaving the government, he was a member of parliament and later Minister of the Republic in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, appointed by then-President Jorge Sampaio, who awarded him the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Christ in 2005.

Committed to the cause of combating abuse and mistreatment of minors, he was a member of the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV), helped found the Associação Crescer-Serefoium, and was one of the six members of the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Catholic Church.

Novelist reveals himself after 70

More recently, after publishing several legal books, he launched a novel-writing career. The first was O Chamador, published in 2014, followed by O Homem que Escrevia Azulejos (2016, finalist for the Fernando Namora Prize), O Beco da Liberdade (2019, semifinalist for the Oceanos Prize), As Sombras de uma Azinheira (2022), and the memoir A Vida na Selva (2024), all published by Quetzal.

In honor of Laborinho Lúcio, the Alumni Association of the University of Minho, where he taught, created a literary prize in his name, awarded for the first time in 2024 to Ana Paula Mateus for her book Um Rasto de Perfume (A Trail of Perfume).

The President of the Government of the Azores sends condolences

The President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, on behalf of the Government of the Azores, expresses his deep sorrow at the passing of Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, jurist, magistrate, professor, and former Minister of Justice.

A figure of rare balance between knowledge and humanity, Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio dedicated his life to justice, education, and the promotion of citizenship, causes he always understood to be essential pillars of a free and democratic society. His vision of law, centered on people and human dignity, marked generations and continues to inspire those who believe that knowledge and ethics can transform the country.

Between 2003 and 2006, he served as Minister of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of the Azores, a role he performed with a strong sense of institutional responsibility and a deep respect for the principles of self-government. In the Azores, he left behind the example of a man of dialogue, attentive to the people and realities of each island, a friend of autonomy and Azorean citizenship, which he always valued as a living expression of democracy.

Affable, cultured, and serene, Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio was a friend of the Azores and an Azorean at heart. To remember him is to celebrate a humanist who believed in the power of words, the force of justice, and the value of civic participation as instruments of collective progress.

The Government of the Azores joins in the grief of his family, friends, and all those in Portugal and the Azores who mourn the loss of a distinguished personality, whose memory will remain as an example of integrity, wisdom, and commitment to the common good.

The Azorean Regional Assembly also sends its condolences.

The President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ALRAA), Luís Garcia, expresses his deep sorrow at the passing of Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio, former Minister of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of the Azores, who died today at the age of 83. A figure of great national prestige, “Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio distinguished himself through his long career in the service of justice, culture, and the public cause, and was recognized for his humanism, intellectual lucidity, and the integrity with which he always performed his duties,” emphasized President Luís Garcia. With a law degree from the University of Coimbra, his professional career spanned a wide range of areas within the justice system: he was a public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal of Coimbra, inspector of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Deputy Attorney General, and director of the Judicial Police School and the Center for Judicial Studies—positions in which he proved tireless in defending the rule of law and training legal staff.

In government, he was Secretary of State for Judicial Administration and Minister of Justice in 1990, and between 1990 and 1996, he also served as a member of the Portuguese Parliament. Between 2003 and 2006, he held the position of Minister of the Republic for the Azores, during which he represented the State with deep respect for regional autonomy and recognized sensitivity to the specificities of the Region. In addition to his legal and political career, Laborinho Lúcio was an active presence in civic and cultural life: he chaired the Municipal Assembly of Nazaré, served on social and legal committees—most recently on the Independent Commission for the Study of Sexual Abuse of Children in the Portuguese Catholic Church—and participated in associations supporting victims and social development.

On his own behalf and on behalf of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, President Luís Garcia offers his sincere condolences to the bereaved family and expresses his deep sympathy to all those who lived and worked with him, joining in the national mourning for the passing of a figure of exceptional importance in Portuguese public life.

From Euronews and Press Releases

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