Rui Cardoso
Expertise in the context of forensic age estimation: the Law
- Public Prosecutor since 1995, currently with the rank of Deputy Prosecutor General, acting as Director of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Prosecution.
- Lecturer at the Centre for Judicial Studies between september 2016 and january 2023 and at the Centre for Legal and Judicial Training of Timor-Leste between february 2023 and august 2024.
- Author of more than two dozen scientific articles in the area of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law, as well as the monograph “Coercive Measures – Theory and Practice”. Co-organiser of the collective work “Corruption in Portugal”.
- Speaker/trainer at many dozens of conferences/seminars/training actions/masters/postgraduate courses.
- Director of the legal journal “Revista do Ministério Público” between august 2017 and october 2024.
Nationality: Portugal
Scientific areas: Forensic Dentistry
7 of november, from 11h00 until 12h30
Room 1
Conference summary
The conference entitled “Forensic Expertise in Medico-Legal Age Estimation: the Law”, which will take place at the 2025 Portuguese Dental Association Congress, will be delivered by Magistrate Rui Cardoso, Deputy Attorney General and Director of the Central Department for Criminal Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP).
This session will focus on the legal and procedural framework governing medico-legal age estimation, discussing both the general legal regime of expert examinations and the specific procedural rules applicable to medico-legal expertise, including technical criteria, evidentiary limits, and the interface between legal medicine and the judiciary.
The speaker will also address practical and ethical challenges in applying scientific methods — clinical, radiological, or laboratory — for chronological age estimation, emphasizing legal certainty, proportionality, and scientific reliability in judicial contexts.
With extensive experience as a lecturer at the Judicial Studies Centre (2016–2023) and at the Legal and Judicial Training Centre of Timor-Leste (2023–2024), and as the author of more than twenty publications in Criminal and Procedural Law, Rui Cardoso brings a robust legal and forensic perspective to the debate.
The conference aims to promote an interdisciplinary reflection on the role of expert evidence in age estimation and its legal implications in criminal, migration, and child protection proceedings.