Haroldo Brito

Haroldo Osvaldo Brito Cruz (born 16 November 1948) is a Chilean lawyer, legal scholar and former judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile from 2008 to 2023 and as president of the Supreme Court from 2018 to 2020.

Biography

Brito received a degree in legal sciences in 1974 from the Valparaíso campus of the University of Chile, which later became the University of Valparaíso. While a student, he served as a teaching assistant in criminal law.

From 1986 to 1993, Brito taught criminal law and criminal procedure at the Carabineros de Chile academy. He later taught procedural law at the Central University of Chile and the University of Talca. He previously taught the subject at Andrés Bello National University from 1990 to 1996, Universidad La República in 1999, and Arturo Prat University from 1991 to 1994, where he also served as an examiner. He has also taught postgraduate and professional development courses on subjects including criminal and labor procedural reforms.

Brito has served as director of the Hernán Correa de la Cerda Institute of Judicial Studies since 1989.

Judicial career

Brito began his judicial career in 1975 as a judge in Los Andes. In 1976, he became a court reporter at the Court of Appeals of Santiago. He was subsequently appointed judge of the Fifth Criminal Court of Valparaíso in 1980 and of the Second Criminal Court of Santiago in 1984. In 1989, he served as an acting judicial prosecutor at the Court of Appeals of Santiago and as a court reporter at the Supreme Court. He was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeals of Santiago in 1996.

In 2008, Brito was named "Judge of the Year" by fellow Chilean judges.

In June 2008, President Michelle Bachelet nominated Brito to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the departure of Justice Alberto Chaigneau. He had been included on the five-person shortlist prepared by the Supreme Court following a competitive selection process, after receiving the same number of votes as Alejandro Solís. His nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He joined the Supreme Court on 7 July 2008.

President of the Supreme Court

On 22 December 2017, Brito was elected president of the Supreme Court by a vote of 14–7. He took office on 8 January 2018, succeeding Hugo Dolmestch, and served until 6 January 2020, when he was succeeded by Guillermo Silva Gundelach.

On 13 February 2018, Brito became president of the Election Certification Court following the retirement of Patricio Valdés.

Brito retired from the Supreme Court on 16 November 2023 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.