Héctor Valladares appointed director of Chile's Academy of the Public Ministry

The national prosecutor Ángel Valencia appointed lawyer Héctor Valladares as the director of the Academy of the Public Ministry, effective 1 August, after the original competition for the post was declared void. Valladares previously headed the Judicial Division of the Ministry of Justice and served as chief of staff to former Segpres minister Ana Lya Uriarte. A longtime member of the Socialist Party, he holds a law degree from the University of Chile, a master’s in Public Policy from the London School of Economics, and a magister in Legal Argumentation from the University of Alicante. He also teaches administrative law at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and the University of Chile, and has participated in drafting major justice and public‑administration reforms. The appointment follows earlier controversy over the selection of the Academy’s first director.