João Paulo Dias is a sociologist, Master in Sociology of Law, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, and Ph.D. in Sociology of Law at the same institution. He is currently Researcher, Executive Director and Coordinator of the Project Management Office of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra. As a researcher, he is author of several articles and books, including "Paths of judicial reforms" (2003), with João Pedroso and Catarina Trincão, "The world of the judiciary: the evolution of the organization and self-government" (2004), "The role of public prosecutors in the judiciary: a comparative study of Ibero-American countries" (2008) (Co-coordinator with Rodrigo Ghiringhelli de Azevedo) and "Public Prosecutors in the access to law and justice" (2013), among others. It focuses, in terms of research interests, on the issues of Access to Law and Justice, the role of public prosecutors and, in particular, the sociological characterization of the judiciary, namely judges and public prosecutors in a comparative perspective.