Who is Manuel García-Mansilla, the professor specialized in constitutional law that Milei will appoint by decree in the Supreme Court

The government of Javier Milei confirmed on Tuesday that it will appoint by decree professor Manuel García-Mansilla and judge Ariel Lijo as members of the Supreme Court. García-Mansilla will be appointed to occupy the seat of Juan Carlos Maqueda, who at the end of the year reached the retirement age established by the National Constitution.

García Mansilla was born on May 6, 1970 in San Carlos de Bariloche. He is 53 years old, married and has three children. He began practicing law in 1996, after graduating from the Universidad Austral.

A practicing Catholic, the Casa Rosada claims that García Mansilla's name was brought to Javier Milei's attention by Rodolfo Barra , now former Attorney General of the Nation's Treasury and historically associated with Opus Dei. He shares with President Milei his rejection of abortion.

Although the candidacy that generated the most controversy was that of the federal judge, the professor's candidacy also faced challenges. In a consultation with the public authorized by the Senate in the middle of last year, he received 22 rejections and 5 endorsements.

One of these rejections was from the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP), which indicated that she "does not meet the necessary standards" to be a member of the Court. Specifically, they questioned her positions on the hierarchy of international human rights treaties and on the constitutionality of the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Among the endorsements, the Buenos Aires City Bar Association supported García-Mansilla's nomination, arguing that he has "outstanding merits to be a member of the highest court in the Nation."

Those who know him also say that he is a man of liberal ideas, but that he could never be classified as a libertarian .

When his nomination was announced, García-Mansilla sent a statement to Clarín . "I would like to thank the President of the Nation for the honorable distinction he has made me by nominating me for the position of judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. If I am duly appointed, I will assume the commitment to carry out my duties as a judge, in an upright and impartial manner, without distinction of any person, always respecting the National Constitution," said the lawyer.

From the classroom he is a staunch defender of Freedom of Expression and of professional journalistic secrecy enshrined in Article 43 of the Constitution . He is also a defender of the doctrine of the Supreme Court of the United States, which in the case of “The Pentagon Papers” declared, by 6 votes to 3, in “The New York Times Company vs. United States”, that the publication of official documents referring to military policy developed on the occasion of a war is lawful unless it is proven that the media has committed an act of espionage to obtain the information.

A year after graduating as a lawyer from Austral, in 1997 he joined the Marval, O'Farrell and Mairal law firm , where he remained until 2005 in the public law department. This firm is one of the largest in the country. During those years he also completed a master's degree at Georgetown University in Washington, specializing in United States Constitutional Law.

From Marval, O'Farrell and Mairal he went on to work in the oil and gas industry and from there he ended up in another famous firm, that of Horacio Liendo , who was the legal brain behind Domingo Cavallo's administration with Carlos Menem. He was at Liendo & Asociados between 2010 and 2014. Since 2019 he is Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Austral.

This Tuesday, Milei's government, through a statement from the President's Office, confirmed the appointment by decree: "The President has made the decision to appoint on commission doctors Manuel García-Mansilla and Ariel Lijo as judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, until the end of the next legislative period, with the aim of normalizing the functioning of the highest judicial court in our country, which cannot carry out its role normally with only three ministers. During the aforementioned period, this administration will continue with the legislative process so that the Upper House exercises its powers and provides the corresponding agreements to the briefs.