Justice Carlos Rosenkrantz was elected president of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, in a surprise power transition that has put an end to Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti's 11-year term in the same role.
Rosenkrantz was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice in August, 2016. His nomination sparked controversy at the time, as it was originally passed by presidential decree. President Mauricio Macri was eventually forced to retreat on his decision, publicly recognising it as mistake and sending the nomination through the normal channels of Congress.
In his short time on Argentina's highest tribunal, Rosenkrantz's decisions have been the subject of debate and division. In 2017, he voted in favour of extending the so-called "two for one" ruling to human rights cases, through which those who had been found guilty of crimes against humanity could apply for reduced sentences, like defendants in other types of criminal cases.
BACKGROUND
Justice Rosenkrantz is 59-years-old, a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) Law Faculty and a masters and doctors graduate of Yale. He is the first Argentine Supreme Court justice of Jewish origin.
Before joining the Court, Rosenkrantz was the Dean of San Andrés University and had previously taught at New York University, Richmond School of Law at Denver University, at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, and at the UBA.
In a political sense, Rosenkrantz is tied to the UCR Radical Party. In 1984, at the age of 25, he was an adviser on the Consolidation of Democracy Counsel, a body set up by then-president
Raúl Alfonsín to guide the country's return to democracy. He considered is a disciple of the philosopher and legal expert Carlos Nino.
In 1991, Rosenkrantz represented the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA) in a case agains the General Inspector's Office (IGJ) for discrimination.
Rosenkrantz is an associate of the firm Bouzat, Rosenkrantz & Asociados, whose clients have included the country's largest media conglomerate Clarín Group.
Justice Elena Highton de Nolasco will act as Rosenkrantz's vice-president. His term will expire in 2021.
-TIMES/PERFIL
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