Born in Lourenço Marques in Mozambique in 1934, Garcês (also written as Garcez and Garcêz) graduated in Law from the University of Coimbra in 1956. After completing her studies, she returned to Mozambique, practicing there for two decades. After the Independence of Mozambique in 1975 she settled permanently in Portugal and, in 1977, began to work as a magistrate after a competitive exam that, prior to the Carnation Revolution in 1974, had only been open to men. In 1993, she was made a judge at the Lisbon Court of Appeal.