Luis Maldonado Boggiano

Luis Maldonado Boggiano (28 October 1907 – 1998) was a Chilean lawyer, professor and judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile from 1966 to 1991 and as president of the Supreme Court from 1988 to 1991. He was also a member of the Constitutional Court of Chile from 1985 to 1991, serving as its president from 1989 to 1991.

Early life

Maldonado was born in Ancud, the son of Basilio Maldonado and Antonita Boggiano.

He attended the Conciliar Seminary in Ancud before enrolling at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile in 1924. After completing his first three years there, he interrupted his studies in 1927 to perform military service. He completed the final two years of his legal education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and qualified as a lawyer on 19 December 1930.

Maldonado later taught at the Liceo Blanco Encalada and the Liceo Comercial in Talca. He also served as a teaching assistant in Roman law and as a professor of procedural law.

Judicial career

Maldonado began his legal career in 1931 as an attorney responsible for the collection of delinquent taxes in the provinces of Llanquihue and Chiloé. He was appointed a judge in Puerto Natales in 1933 and subsequently served as a judge in La Unión from 1934 to 1937, Puerto Aysén from 1937 to 1942, and Valdivia from 1942 to 1944.

In 1944, Maldonado became a court reporter at the Court of Appeals of Chillán. The following year, he joined the Court of Appeals of Santiago as a substitute court reporter and later became a permanent reporter.

He was appointed a justice of the Court of Appeals of Valdivia in 1951, serving there until 1953. He subsequently served on the Court of Appeals of Talca from 1953 to 1958 and the Court of Appeals of Santiago from 1958 to 1966. In 1966, he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Chile.

Maldonado also served as a member of Chile's military court in 1961, 1962 and 1965, and twice served as its president.

From 1985 to 1991, Maldonado was a member of the Constitutional Court of Chile, serving as president of the court from 1989 to 1991.

President of the Supreme Court

Maldonado became president of the Supreme Court on 18 May 1988, succeeding Rafael Retamal López.

During the opening of the 1989 judicial year, Maldonado publicly criticized aspects of Chile's military justice system. He argued that it lacked sufficient judicial independence and criticized the absence of security of tenure for its judges and what he regarded as inadequate guarantees for the right to a defense.

He remained president of the Supreme Court until 1991, when he retired from the Chilean judiciary. He was succeeded by Enrique Correa Labra.

Personal life

Maldonado married Raquel Croquevielle Guesala in Puerto Montt on 12 February 1933. They had three children. Their daughter Mónica Maldonado later served as a judicial prosecutor at the Supreme Court.

Maldonado died in 1998.

A school in Itahue, in the commune of Molina, was named in his honor.