Ramiro Méndez Brañas

Luis Ramiro Méndez Brañas (6 February 1902 – 1993) was a Chilean lawyer and judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile from 1953 to 1972 and as president of the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1972.

He was also a member of the first Constitutional Court of Chile from 1971 to 1972.

Biography

Méndez was born in Talcahuano on 6 February 1902. He attended the Colegio de los Padres Franceses in Concepción and later studied law in Concepción through the law course organised by the University of Chile. He qualified as a lawyer in 1926. His thesis was entitled De los efectos de la ley en cuanto al territorio.

Judicial career

Méndez entered the Chilean judiciary in 1927 as secretary of the Court of Letters of Temuco. During his judicial career, he subsequently served as secretary of the Court of Appeals of Temuco, court reporter at the Courts of Appeals of Valparaíso and Santiago, reporter of the Supreme Court and justice of the Court of Appeals of Santiago.

He was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile in 1953.

President of the Supreme Court

On 5 May 1969, the plenary session of the Supreme Court elected Méndez president of the court for a three-year term. The court formally communicated his appointment to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile that same day.

Official records from his presidency show Méndez presiding over plenary sessions of the Supreme Court. In December 1969, for example, he presided over the session that adopted regulations governing Saturday work and the distribution of working hours in Chilean courts.

Méndez remained president until 1972 and was succeeded by Enrique Urrutia Manzano.

Constitutional Court

Méndez was one of the original members of the Constitutional Court of Chile, which began operating in 1971. The court's initial membership consisted of president Enrique Silva Cimma, Méndez, Jacobo Schaulsohn, Adolfo Veloso Figueroa and Rafael Retamal López.

During his tenure, Méndez participated in the court's early constitutional jurisprudence. He was among the justices who decided several of its first cases and was the author of the judgment in case No. 4.

He remained a member until 1 May 1972. He was replaced the following day by Supreme Court justice Israel Bórquez.

Méndez died in 1993.