President Michel Temer has appointed Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes to fill a vacant justice seat on the Supreme Court (STF), Presidential Spokesman Alexandre Parola annnounced Monday (Feb. 6).

According to Parola, the president decided to recommend Moraes to the Senate for approval based on the minister's “strong academic and professional credentials”.

Moraes is the government's nomination to replace Justice Teori Zavascki, who was killed in a plane crash in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro on January 19. He must stand a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Constitution and Justice (CCJ) and be approved by the house in order to take up the role.

Career

Alexandre Moraes has been serving as Ministry of Justice since May 2016, when Temer took over as interim president of Brazil for the impeachment proceedings against then-president Dilma Rousseff. A lawyer and jurist, he is the author of dozens of books on Constitutional Law and earned an associate professorship-level degree from the Law School of the University of São Paulo (USP), where he also earned his first degree in 1990 and a doctoral degree in 2000.

Before serving as minister, Moraes was the State Public Security Secretary of São Paulo, a role for which he was appointed by the current Governor Geraldo Alckmin in December 2015. Years before, he served as State Justice, Defense, and Citizenship Secretary under Alckmin's prior administrations between 2002 and 2005.