Enrique Urrutia Manzano

Enrique Urrutia Manzano (30 January 1900 – 30 May 1991) was a Chilean lawyer and judge.

He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile from 1960 to 1975 and as president of the Supreme Court from 1972 to 1975. He later served as a member of the Council of State from 1976 until its dissolution in 1990.

Early life

Urrutia was born in Concepción on 30 January 1900. He attended the Sacred Hearts School and the Liceo de Hombres in Concepción before studying law. He qualified as a lawyer on 8 September 1923.

He married Blanca Aninat Viale in Concepción on 5 March 1924. They had children.

Judicial career

Urrutia began his professional career as an official of the Municipality of Concepción in 1924. In 1927, he worked as an attorney for the fiscal defence service of the Internal Revenue Service and subsequently became secretary of the Second Court of Concepción.

He served as a substitute judge in Talcahuano in 1931 and became secretary of the Third Criminal Court of Major Jurisdiction in Valparaíso in 1932. Later that year, he became a court reporter at the Court of Appeals of Concepción. In 1936, he was appointed a court reporter at the Court of Appeals of Santiago, and in 1941 he assumed the same position at the Supreme Court of Chile.

Urrutia was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeals of Santiago in 1948 and became a justice of the Supreme Court in 1960.

President of the Supreme Court

Urrutia became president of the Supreme Court in 1972, succeeding Ramiro Méndez Brañas. Official records from September and November 1972 document plenary sessions of the Supreme Court presided over by Urrutia.

During the presidency of Salvador Allende, the Supreme Court under Urrutia repeatedly expressed concern about what it regarded as interference by the executive branch with judicial decisions. In April 1973, Urrutia signed a communication to Allende in which the court criticized the actions of government authorities and warned of what it considered a crisis in the country's legal order.

Following the military coup of 11 September 1973, Urrutia publicly welcomed assurances from the new authorities that judicial decisions would be respected. On 12 September, he expressed the Supreme Court's satisfaction with the military government's stated intention to respect and enforce decisions of the judiciary.

On 25 September 1973, when the Government Junta made an official visit to the Supreme Court, Urrutia received its members in his capacity as president of the court. In his address, he expressed satisfaction with the junta's assurances concerning the independence of the judiciary and wished the new authorities success in their actions.

Urrutia remained president of the Supreme Court until 1975, when he was succeeded by José María Eyzaguirre.

Council of State

After leaving the Supreme Court, Urrutia was appointed a member of the Council of State established by the military government in 1976. He remained a member of the body throughout its existence.

In 1985, the government renewed Urrutia's appointment to the Council for a further three-year term in his capacity as a former president of the Supreme Court. His appointment was renewed again in 1988 until the newly established Senate began functioning.

By the time the Council of State was dissolved in 1990, Urrutia was serving as its vice-president.

After his retirement from the judiciary, he also served as an abogado integrante (attorney member) of the Supreme Court and continued in that capacity until shortly before his death.

Urrutia died in Santiago on 30 May 1991, aged 91.