Interview with Carlos Velloso, Former Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal)

Abstract

Born on January 19, 1936, in Entre Rios de Minas, in the Campo das Vertentes region, Carlos Mário da Silva Velloso dreamed of becoming a soccer player and an aviator. However, the influence of his father, who was a public prosecutor and judge, led him toward a distinguished legal career. After earning his law degree from the Faculty of Law at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in 1963, Velloso successfully passed competitive examinations to become a public prosecutor, a sectional judge, and a judge of law, and was appointed as a federal judge in Minas Gerais in 1967. Alongside his judicial career, he taught at the Law Schools of UFMG, UNA, the Brasília University (UnB), and the Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC-Minas), where he also served as director. In 1978, he was appointed minister of the former Federal Court of Appeals (Tribunal Federal de Recursos — TFR) which, with the 1988 Constitution, would give way to the Superior Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justiça — STJ) and the Regional Federal Courts (Tribunais Regionais Federais — TRFs). In 1990, he was chosen as justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal — STF), serving as its president from 1999 to 2001. He retired in 2006 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, after more than half a century of public service. He is also a retired full professor at the UnB Law School. Since 2006, he has been practicing private law as a partner at Advocacia Velloso, based in Brasília. In this interview, Velloso shares reflections on his legal career, which established him as one of the most prominent constitutional scholars in Brazil.