Guillermo Silva Gundelach
Guillermo Enrique Silva Gundelach (born 8 November 1947) is a Chilean lawyer and former judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile from 2008 to 2022 and as president of the Supreme Court from 2020 to 2022.
Early life
Silva was born in Penco, Chile. He completed his primary and secondary education at the Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones de Concepción. He subsequently studied law at the University of Concepción, qualifying as a lawyer in 1972.
Silva was a professor of criminal law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Catholic University of the Most Holy Conception between 1982 and 1998. He also taught at San Sebastián University from 1996.
Judicial career
Silva began his judicial career in 1972 as secretary of the First Civil Court of Los Ángeles. In 1974, he became a judge of the Civil Court of Mulchén, and in 1977 he was appointed judge of the Second Civil Court of Los Ángeles. In October 1980, he was appointed judge of the Second Civil Court of Concepción.
In 1990, Silva was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeals of Talca, and in 1993 he joined the Court of Appeals of Concepción, serving as its president in 1999.
In 2008, President Michelle Bachelet nominated Silva to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile. His nomination was subsequently approved by the Senate. He took office on 9 December 2008 and served primarily on the court's First Chamber.
President of the Supreme Court
On 18 December 2019, Silva was elected president of the Supreme Court for the 2020–2022 term. He took office on 6 January 2020 and served until 6 January 2022, when he was succeeded by Juan Eduardo Fuentes.
Silva retired from the Supreme Court on 8 November 2022 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.