Ministerio da Justica

Their core work

Portugal's Ministry of Justice serves as a key law enforcement and justice end-user in EU security research, providing real-world operational requirements, validation environments, and practitioner feedback for tools targeting crime investigation, counter-terrorism, and digital forensics. Their participation spans the full spectrum of justice system needs — from forensic evidence analysis and cybercrime investigation to child exploitation prevention and anti-radicalization. They do not build technology themselves but shape how security research tools meet the actual needs of courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015–2018, the Ministry's involvement was diverse and exploratory — projects ranged from applied gaming (RAGE), mixed-reality interrogation training (LAW-TRAIN), to autonomous sensors (FORENSOR) and citizen-LEA collaboration (TRILLION). From 2019 onward, participation concentrated sharply on AI-powered law enforcement: computer vision, deep learning, augmented reality for operational policing, and cybercrime analytics became dominant themes across nearly every project. This shift mirrors the broader European push to equip justice systems with advanced digital tools while maintaining ethical and privacy safeguards.

Moving decisively toward AI, computer vision, and augmented reality as operational tools for justice and law enforcement, with growing emphasis on ethical AI governance and practitioner-driven technology adoption.

How they like to work

The Ministry exclusively participates as a partner — never as coordinator — across all 30 projects, which is typical for a government end-user providing operational requirements and validation rather than leading research. With 376 unique partners across 41 countries, they operate as a broad-network hub rather than relying on a small circle of repeat collaborators. This makes them a well-connected entry point into the European security research ecosystem, especially for organizations needing a credible justice-sector practitioner in their consortium.

With 376 unique consortium partners spanning 41 countries, the Ministry has one of the widest collaborative networks among European justice-sector bodies in H2020 security research. Their reach covers virtually all EU member states plus associated countries, with no narrow geographic bias.

What sets them apart

As a national ministry rather than a research institute or company, they bring something most consortium partners cannot: direct operational authority and access to the Portuguese justice system for real-world validation and piloting. Their 30-project track record in security research is exceptionally large for a government body, signaling institutional commitment and experienced project management capacity. For any consortium needing a credible law enforcement end-user with broad thematic coverage — from cybercrime to forensics to counter-terrorism — they are among the most experienced public-sector partners in Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GRACE
  Highest single-project funding (€232,500) and addresses the sensitive domain of child exploitation using federated learning and computer vision — a high-impact, high-visibility topic.
• STARLIGHT
  Large-scale flagship project (2021–2026) on sustainable AI autonomy for law enforcement, representing the Ministry's most forward-looking commitment to AI-driven policing with ethical safeguards.
• DARLENE
  Combines augmented reality glasses, 5G networks, and deep learning for real-time law enforcement situational awareness — an unusually concrete operational technology project for a ministry.