department in the PGR and one of such departments in each of the district attorneys-general's offices. For the criminal investigation, the MP also controls the activity of the Judiciary Police. Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice (Ministério da Justiça) is the department of the Government of Portugal responsible to conceive, conduct, execute and assess the Justice policy defined by the Assembly of the Republic and by the Government and to assure the relationship of the Government with the courts, the Public Ministry, the Higher Council of Magistrates and the Higher Council of the Administrative and Tax Courts. As part of its responsibilities, it administers the judiciary system, with functions that include the payment of salaries and the construction of courthouses. It is headed by the minister of Justice, who is a member of the Portuguese Cabinet. On the contrary of what happens in other countries, the Portuguese minister of Justice is not the head of public prosecution, not having any kind of authority over the attorneys of the Public Ministry, who are independent magistrates. Judiciary professions Judges The judges are the independent magistrates that judge accordingly with the Portuguese Constitution and the law. There are two separate bodies of career judges, that are part of the civil service. The first one is the Judicial Magistrates Corps, that is formed by the judges who serve in the Judicial courts. The superior body of this Corps is the Higher Council of Magistracy, presided by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice. The other is the body of Judges of the Administrative and Tax Jurisdiction. This is headed by the Higher Council of the Administrative and Tax Courts, presided by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court. Although independent of each other, the two bodies of career judges share many characteristics. Both have the same categories of judges, that are those of conselheiro (counselor), desembargador and juíz de direito (judge of Law), corresponding, respectively to the judges of the supreme, second instance and first instance courts. The access to the careers of judges implies the graduation in a special school of magistrates, the Centro de Estudos Judiciários (Judicial Studies Center) or CEJ. The admission to the CEJ is made through civil service examination. Previous conditions for admission is to be National of Portugal or of another Portuguese Speaking Country, to have a degree in Law and to fulfill all the conditions