Guimarães Campus of Justice to be completed in 2029 with €9 million investment

Campus of Justice of Guimarães: location and scale

The long-awaited new Campus of Justice of Guimarães is set to go ahead after several years on hold, with completion scheduled for 2029. The project is expected to cost €9 million and will provide around 5,000 m² of space.

The building will be located in the parish of Costa, in a 5,000 m² facility next to the Academy of Gymnastics.

Agreements signed with Guimarães City Council

On Monday, Minister Rita Júdice was in Guimarães to sign two collaboration protocols with the City Council, helping to unblock a process that began in 2019. During the session, an addendum was formalised to the cooperation protocol agreed in 2019 with the Institute for Financial Management and Justice Equipment, allowing the next step: establishing a surface right over the plot earmarked for the new judicial building.

A framework protocol was also signed for the refurbishment and maintenance of justice facilities in Guimarães. This document anticipates future conservation and upgrading works across several judicial buildings in the municipality, namely the Courthouse, the Court of Appeal, the Labour Court and the prison.

Next steps and timeline to 2029

The next stage will be the signing of an inter-administrative contract between the Government and the municipality. Under this arrangement, the council will commission the project, which will later be co-funded by the Ministry of Justice. The council is also responsible for making the land available and providing operational support to speed up the process.

According to the timetable, the architectural design should be finished later this year, and the construction contract is due to be put out to tender in 2027.

"We hope that in a year, a year and a half, we will be launching the construction contract project, which will kick off the actual works," said the minister. For the Mayor, Ricardo Araújo, the project is now entering the "delivery phase", running counter to earlier forecasts that pointed to completion only in 2031.