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

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

Supreme Federal Court The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for con ...

of Brazil, having been nominated to the position by President

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first ...

in 2013, and, since 25 May 2020, Barroso has also served as President of the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE) in each of the 26 states ...

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

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an 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 practice.

in law by

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from UERJ, being 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 fe ...

in the university, while also doing post-doctoral studies in the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

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

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

in pregnancies originated from

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

and the criminalization of

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

and

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...

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 Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ; pt, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) is a public research university in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the country. The universi ...

(UERJ) in 1980, and an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...

in 1987. He received a doctorate in

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

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 terrorist Cesare Battisti in Brazil, with whom he shares the same ideology. According to Barroso defense, all actions of Battisti were justified because Battisti was fighting an authoritarian italian regime when he committed the murders, at the 70's. Barroso owned the law firm Luís Roberto Barroso & Associados in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, 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 Carlos Augusto Ayres de Freitas Britto (born November 18, 1942, in Propriá, Sergipe) is a Brazilian jurist and was a Justice of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil. He was appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and served from Jun ...

, 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 Luiz Fux (; born 26 April 1953) is a Brazilian judge and the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Federal Court. He is of Romanian Jewish descent, and the first Jewish Brazilian member of the Court. He was previously a minister of the Superior ...

, Rosa Weber and

Teori Zavascki Teori Albino Zavascki (15 August 1948 – 19 January 2017) was a Brazilian judge who served as a Minister of the Superior Court of Justice from 8 May 2003 until 29 November 2012, appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and as a Mi ...

. 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 prestigious

New York University School of Law 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 is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in ...

, in the United States, and

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, in England. Barroso is an advocate for drug legalization, starting with decriminalising 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 Rio de Janeiro (state) Rio de Janeiro State University alumni Brazilian Jews Brazilian people of Greek-Jewish descent