Mário Jorge Menezes

Mário Jorge Menezes has a law degree (University of Lisbon Law School) and postgraduate qualifications in Taxation (Instituto Superior de Gestão) and Banking Law (University of Lisbon Law School). He joined the Somague Group (Portugal) as an in-house lawyer between 1991 and 2000, and held the positions of General Manager (legal area) of Somague SGPS and Somague Engenharia between 1997 and 2000. He practised law in Portugal in partnership with law firms between 2000 and 2019, and has practised law in Cape Verde since 2006. He founded Mário Jorge Menezes Advogados in 2006, which was succeeded by MLA - menezes, leite & associados, Sociedade de Advogados, RL (MLA) in 2012.

Relevant experience:

• Analysis of various commercial law, labour law and civil law issues, particularly those related to public procurement (namely in the areas of construction, energy, the environment and road, port and airport concessions), during the period in which he was part of the Somague Group in Portugal (1991/2000).
• As a freelance lawyer in Cape Verde and Portugal, he has advised various public and private organisations working in the fields of public procurement, banking, real estate, hotels and tourism (2000/present).
• Advising public and private entities on the formation and execution of contracts in the context of major projects and contracts (concessions, financing, construction and others), particularly for the construction, management and/or operation of airports, ports, metro lines and stations, football stadiums, roads, hotels, property developments and social housing.
• Representing clients in arbitration and legal proceedings related to public and private contracts, in the formation and execution phases.
• Head of the team that drew up the ‘Diagnosis of the Application of the Public Contracts Code and the Legal Framework for Administrative Contracts, and respective Normative Documents, since their Approval to date’ (Cape Verde), whose final report was presented in 2021.
• Advising the President of the Republic of Cape Verde (2016/2022).
• Participation in the process of drafting bills and in diagnoses of the application of legislation.
• Participation as a speaker at congresses, seminars and workshops on issues in various areas of law.
• He is Chairman of the Board of the General Assembly of several companies.