Filipa Calvão promises “spirit of independence and service” at the Court of Auditors
The new president of the Court of Auditors (TdC), Filipa Urbano Calvão, guaranteed today that she will serve the four-year term with a “spirit of independence and service”, also calling for joint work with other State bodies.
“I hope to live up to the trust, guaranteeing that I will carry out my duties with a spirit of independence, service and genuine cooperation with all those who make up the TdC”, said Filipa Urbano Calvão, at the inauguration ceremony held at the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon, after be sworn in by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Filipa Urbano Calvão, 53 years old, succeeds José Tavares in the position and is the first woman to preside over the TdC, after having already led the national Data Protection Commission (CNPD) between 2012 and 2023. In the brief speech given at the ceremony, the jurist recalled her career and praised the legacy she now finds at TdC, assuming an “immense honor” and awareness of the “relevance of the mission” of this entity.
“I was with great pride at the service of the Portuguese State for 11 years at the CNPD and today I enter a house of secular tradition, of great national and international prestige, whose constitutional mission is also the independent defense of the interests of citizens and the State, now from the perspective of financial control and promoting a culture of financial responsibility”, he highlighted.
After praising his predecessor José Tavares, highlighting his “unsurpassable dedication” to the TdC and that the institution “will always be his home”, as well as former president Alfredo José de Sousa, whose mandate he considered “an example”, the president of TdC considered that the “good execution of the TdC’s mission also depends on open dialogue with other State bodies” and with society, namely academia.
“I commit to continuing the good performance of the TCU’s functions and seeking to improve wherever there is room for evolution, in order to respond to the challenges that the financial jurisdiction and public audit face today, for the benefit of the country and our citizens ”, he concluded.
Graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola do Porto, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Filipa Urbano Calvão has also collaborated since 2023 with the firm Sérvulo & Associados, in the Public Law department.
With a master’s degree and doctorate in Law from the University of Coimbra, the new president of TdC is also a researcher at the Research Center for the Future of Law, at Católica, accumulating other positions linked to academic life and a long career linked to the main Law faculties national.
