Luís Roberto Barroso (; born 11 March 1958) is a Brazilian law

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and President of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, having been nominated to the position by President Dilma Rousseff in 2013. Between 2020 and 2022, Barroso also served as President of the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court (, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Election Justice, Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court (Brazil), Regional Electoral Court (, TRE) in each of the 26 states and th ...

. Barroso graduated in law from the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), holds a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in law from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from UERJ. He has done post-doctoral studies at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and he is a professor of

Constitutional Law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

at UERJ. He is considered a liberal and progressive Justice, providing landmark votes on the legalization of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

in pregnancies originated from

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and the criminalization of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

in Brazil.

Life and career

Born in the city of Vassouras, Barroso received a bachelor's degree in law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in 1980, and an LL.M. from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1987. He received a doctorate in

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

from UERJ in 2008 and is a tenured professor of constitutional law at the university. In 2011, Barroso was a visiting scholar at

, and while in the United States published the paper "Here, there and everywhere: human dignity in contemporary law and in the transnational discourse". At 2011, Barroso became nationally known for being the lawyer of the militant Cesare Battisti in Brazil. Barroso implemented a defense that argued that his client's actions were justified because the actions were part of Battisti's fight against an authoritarian Italian regime. Barroso owned the law firm Luís Roberto Barroso & Associados in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, which specialized in public law and Supreme Court litigation. Prior to being nominated to the Supreme Federal Court by Dilma Rousseff in May 2013 to replace Justice Carlos Ayres Britto, Barroso served as a state attorney in

state. He was the fourth Supreme Court nominee of Rousseff, who had previously nominated the justices Luiz Fux, Rosa Weber and Teori Zavascki. He was confirmed by the Federal Senate in early June, and was sworn into office on 26 June 2013. Barroso has been invited to lecture in various universities around the world, including the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

, in the United States, and

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, in England. Barroso is an advocate for drug legalization, starting with decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for private consumption. His judicial views have been described as progressive.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barroso, Luis Roberto 1958 births Living people Supreme Federal Court of Brazil justices Yale Law School alumni People from Vassouras Rio de Janeiro State University alumni Brazilian Jews Brazilian people of Greek-Jewish descent