Ricardo Lorenzetti

Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti (born 19 September 1955) is an Argentine judge graduated from the National University of the Littoral, Argentina, with a long national and international career. He used to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Argentina (2007–2018), proposed by President Néstor Kirchner and approved by the Senate, assuming his position on December 12, 2004, covering the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Adolfo Vázquez. On November 7, 2006, he was appointed Chief Justice, officiated as of January 1, 2007. Currently, he is one of the five Justices of the Supreme Court. He was President of the commission for the preparation of the Parliamentary Act to reform, update and unify the Civil and Commercial Codes of the Argentine Nation, Presidential Decree 191/2011.

In addition, during his presidency, the Court was very innovative due to its take on class actions and also due to the implementation of several institutional devices such as CIJ, a news agency dedicated to the Judiciary's transparency. Also, the Court developed and installed spaces aimed to gender protection (Oficina de violencia doméstica, y Oficina de la Mujer) .

A statement by UCR figure and former Mar del Plata Mayor Daniel Katz in support of a potential spot for Lorenzetti as Julio Cobos's running mate in the 2011 presidential election led to friction with the administration of President Cristina Kirchner, whose Cabinet Chief, Aníbal Fernández, expressed disapproval at Lorenzetti's silence on the issue.

On 23 June 2013, Lorenzetti claimed that he was being threatened and extorted by AFIP President Ricardo Echegaray. Lorenzetti claims the intimidation was in response to his verdicts against the constitutionality of government legislation. AFIP has denied any such investigation.

Since 2020, Lorenzetti has been serving as an Ex-Officio and Institutional Board Member for the Inter-American Institute on Justice and Sustainability (IIJS) in the city of Washington, D.C., in United States of America where the organization has its headquarters.

University degrees

He graduated as Lawyer from the Department of Legal and Social Sciences of the National University of the Littoral of Santa Fe, Argentina. He joined that institution as a student in 1974, and his degree was issued in July 1978. He is a Doctor in Legal and Social Sciences, whose degree was issued by the Department of Legal and Social Sciences of the National University of the Littoral. The jury of his doctoral dissertation was integrated by María Josefa Méndez Costa, Anteo Ramella, Maurino Elida and his sponsorship was in charge of Jorge Mosset Iturraspe. The title was granted on December 22, 1983, and the title of his doctoral dissertation was Medical Liability of Physicians, published in 1986 by Rubinzal and Culzoni.

Academic background, awards and distinctions

Member of the Governing Committee of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment Member of the experts group of the Governing Council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) 2009–2013 Chairman of the commission for the preparation of the reform, update and unification of the Civil and Commercial Codes of Argentina Goodwill Ambassador for Environmental Justice in the Americas, Organization of American States (OAS), 2016 Member of the Environmental Justice Commission of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit Co-president of the International Advisory Council for the Advancement of Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, United Nations Environment Programme, UN Member of the Steering Committee of IUCN -International Union for the Conservation of Nature Grand Officer, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, honour conferred by the Italian government B'nai B'rith Human Rights Award 2010, awarded by B'nai B'rith Argentina, Buenos Aires, 23 November 2010 Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Social Sciences and Law of Córdoba, Argentina Member of the Academy of Law of Peru Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Paris, France Co-director ad-honorem of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Neuroscience and Law, Secretariat of International Relations of the University of Buenos Aires, together with Dr Facundo Francisco Manes Member of the ‘Comitato straniero di Valutazione’, Doctorate in Consumer Law of the University of Perugia, 2017 Tenure Professor of Civil and Commercial Contracts at the University of Buenos Aires Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of La Matanza, Buenos Aires, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, Catholic University of Salta, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Morón, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, Siglo XXI University, Córdoba, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, May 12, 2014 Doctor Honoris Causa, Department of Law and Social Sciences, University of Mendoza, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, Federal University of Porto Alegre, Brazil Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of the South, Bahía Blanca, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Córdoba, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Jujuy, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Tucumán, San Miguel del Tucumán, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of the North-East, Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of the Littoral, Santa Fe, Argentina Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Lima, Peru Doctor Honoris Causa, Garcilaso de la Vega University, Lima, Peru Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Cajamarca, Peru Honoris Causa, Private University of San Pedro de Trujillo, Peru Distinction Honorary Professor, Private University of the North of Lima, Peru Distinction Honorary Professor, Department of Law and Political Science, Garcilaso de la Vega Inca University, Peru Honour of Merit, Great National University of San Marcos, Peru National Award for Freedom of Expression, granted by Editorial Perfil, Buenos Aires, October 22, 2014 Award from the Buenos Aires National Academy of Law and Social Sciences for the paper “Las Normas Fundamentales de Derecho Privado” [´Fundamental Principles of Private Law´] Award in Civil Law from the Córdoba National Academy of Law and Social Sciences, 1993 Academic Merit Award granted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico Department of Law, October, 2004 He has developed an intense academic activity in post-graduate courses. He directs the career in Environmental Law, the post-graduate Specialisation in Tort Law and the Programme in Commercial Contracts at University of Buenos Aires. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court of Argentina, he taught post-graduate courses at the following universities: University of Palermo, Austral University, Social and Administration Sciences University, National University of Littoral, Catholic University of Rosario, National University of Tucumán and University of Mendoza In Europe, he has given lectures at various universities, such as the University of Salamanca, the Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, and the European Institute of Firenze In the United States, he has given lectures at the University of Columbia, Yale, NYU and the American Law Institute In Brazil, he has given lectures at the following universities: University of São Paulo, University of Porto Alegre, University of Curitiba, University of Belho Horizonte, University of Rio de Janeiro; he has participated in diverse meetings in almost all the Brazilian states, and six of his books have been translated into Portuguese and published by Revista dos Tribunais –some of them with a second edition- In Chile, he has given lectures at the following universities: Catholic University, University of Chile, University of Valparaíso, University of the Andes; and he was the Course Convener in the MA in Private Law at the Catholic University of Valparaiso In Mexico, he has given lectures at the Autonomous University of México, the National School and the Mexican Centre of Uniform Law, and he has published two books In Uruguay, he has given several lectures and he is professor emeritus at University of the Republic In Peru, he has published five books and received several awards. Recently, a conference in his honour has been held In Hawai, he participated as a speaker at the Second Global Symposium, organized by the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE), the World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI).

Books His main publications are: led by the Court and integrated with judges, to promote the adoption of quality management criteria in the judiciary. For those purposes, agreements were signed to make electronic payments through the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires, and progress was made in the same direction with the Bank of the Nation. He formed a special commission with the jurisdiction of social security and the National Insurance of Argentina to computerise and expedite the judgements of pensioners. that brings together the Supreme Court of Argentina, the Provincial Courts, and federal, national and provincial judges throughout the country, with the purpose of establishing state policies based on consensus. He established a regime of opening of the Court to the press, making agreements with Adepa, with Fopea, and promoting permanent meetings with all the media to improve transparency and communication. Thus, in 2008, he launched the Judicial Information Centre, the news agency of the Judicial Branch, to allow the community to access judicial information in a clearer and simpler manner. For the first time, state policies for the judiciary with ten-year planning were approved. He constituted the National Management Commission, led by the Court and integrated with judges, to promote the adoption of quality management criteria in the judiciary. For those purposes, agreements were signed to make electronic payments through the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires, and progress was made in the same direction with the Bank of the Nation. He formed a special commission with the jurisdiction of social security and the National Insurance of Argentina to computerise and expedite the judgements of pensioners. integrated by judges, to expedite the solution of conflicts by non-judicial means. In that sense, the office of domestic violence was opened. He promoted the international opening of the Supreme Court establishing relations with his counterparts in Courts around the world, including the Courts of the G20 countries, the Ibero-American Region, the Americas (OAS) and the Mercosur (Common Market of the South), as well as International Tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Andean Court, the Caribbean Court of Justice, the African Court on Human and People's Rights, etc. ) He established the tradition of the State Opening of the Judiciary every year since 2008, in order to announce the state policies that will be developed during each year. The administration of the Court, the social work, and the forensic medical corps were reorganised with criteria of transparency and audit controls. He was one of three judges to ratify the life sentence of Jonathan Luna, accused of the murder of Micaela Ortega.