Jaime Eduardo Gajardo Falcón (born 27 February 1981) is a Chilean politician who currently serves as Minister of Justice.
Biography Born in 1981, he is the son of Jaime Gajardo Orellana, a teacher, trade union leader, and former president of the Chilean Teachers' Association.
Education He completed his primary and secondary education at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, graduating in 1998. He then pursued higher education in law at the University of Chile, qualifying as a lawyer. Subsequently, he completed a bachelor's degree in legal sciences and social sciences at the same institution, graduating in 2005 with a thesis titled Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Free Trade Treaties Ratified by Chile.
He later completed a diploma in labour law at Universidad Internacional SEK in 2006; a diploma in management of public services and public enterprises at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Spain, in 2012; a master’s degree in law with a specialization in public law at the University of Chile, graduating with highest distinction and presenting the thesis Multiculturalism, Its Normative Reception and Perspectives in Chile and Bolivia: A Comparative Study, also in 2012;
In 2013, he completed another master’s degree in constitutional law at the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies of Spain, with the thesis titled A Comparative Study of the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights on Political Representation in Multicultural Contexts, in 2013; a master’s degree in governance and human rights, graduating with highest distinction and presenting the thesis Group Rights in the Inter-American Human Rights Protection System;
In 2018, he completed a Ph.D in law and political science, with the dissertation titled Multiculturalism and Its Perspective in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A Comparative Study, both degrees awarded by the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, in 2018.
Professional career He has practiced his profession for sixteen years in both the public and private sectors. In this capacity, he has represented trade unions and worked on human rights cases.
He has also served as a professor of constitutional law at the ARCIS University between 2008 and 2011; as a workshop instructor at the University of Chile between 2015 and 2016; as a professor of indigenous law at the Alberto Hurtado University between 2017 and 2022; and again as a professor of constitutional law at the Diego Portales University since 2018.
Political career A member of the Communist Party of Chile (PC), in February 2022 he was appointed by then president-elect Gabriel Boric as head of the Subsecretariat of Justice, within the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. He assumed office on 11 March of that year, coinciding with the formal start of the administration.
On 7 January 2023, following the resignation of Marcela Ríos from her post as Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Gajardo assumed the position on an interim basis.
On 17 October 2024, following the appointment of then Minister of Justice and Human Rights Luis Cordero Vega as Undersecretary of the Interior, Gajardo was appointed by President Gabriel Boric as Minister of Justice and Human Rights. With this appointment, he became the first member of the Communist Party to hold the post since Sergio Insunza in 1973, during the government of Salvador Allende.
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