José Duarte de Almeida Ribeiro e Castro (born Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, 24 December 1953) is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was the leader of the People's Party since 24 April 2005 to 2007 , wen he was replaced again by Paulo Portas

Paulo Portas

Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas , commonly known just by Paulo Portas , is a Portuguese politician, party leader of the Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party , a member of the Portuguese Parliament and former Portuguese minister of State, National Defense and Sea Affairs.In 2011, after he...

.
He is also a member of the European Parliament

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

, since 1999, currently for the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

–People's Party coalition; part of the European People's Party–European Democrats group.

He has occupied or still occupies the following public posts :

• EPP/ED group coordinator at the Human Rights Subcommittee in the European Parliament (since 2004).
• Member of the CDS-PP’s National Board Executive Committee (since 2004).
• Member and Chairman of Sintra’s Municipal Assembly (since 2002).
• Vice-Chairman of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (1997–1998).
• Between 1991 and 1999, he held a number of managerial posts at TVI television.
• Legal adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (since 1991).
• Member of the Higher Council for Social Policy of the Ministry of Social Affairs (1988–1990).
• Member (1988–1990) and Chairman (1990–1991) of the inspection board of RTP
  Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
  Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....
  
   (Portuguese Radio and Television).
• Adviser and assistant to the Ministry of Education (1987–1991).
• Member of Odemira
  Odemira
  Odemira is a municipality in the Portuguese region of Alentejo with a total area of 1,720.6 km² and a total population of 25,738 inhabitants....
  
  ’s Municipal Assembly (1982-1985).
• Vice-Chairman of the CDS’ parliamentary group (1981).
• Secretary of State in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office (1980 and 1981–1983).
• Member of the National Board (1979–1983) of CDS and CDS-PP (1998–2003).
• Member of the Portuguese Parliament
  Assembly of the Republic
  The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
  
  (1976–1983 and 1999).
• CDS spokesman (1976–1983).
• Legal expert and counsellor (1976–1999).
• Member of the National Board of the CDS party (1975–1983) and the CDS-PP (since 1998).
• Graduate in law (Lisbon, 1975).
• Contributor to various newspapers (since 1974).
• Founder of Juventude Centrista (1974).