Joaquim Barbosa has dedicated his career to public service, the law, and education. Barbosa has served as a public servant since age 19. In 1984 he started his career as a federal prosecutor. In 2003 he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. In 2012 he became Brazil’s Chief Justice.

In addition to the innumerous  positions he held in the public sector, Barbosa dedicated many years to  academic activities. Graduated from the  University of Brasilia School of Law in December 1979, he went on at the the master’s degree level at the same university until mid-1982. In 1988 he moved to France, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in public law at the University Paris-Panthéon Assas at the beginning of 1993. He taught law at both private and public universities in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. He also was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University, New York, and at the University of California in Los Angeles, USA. He is a frequent speaker both in Brazil and abroad.