MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Who is Juan Bautista Mahiques, Argentina’s new Justice Minister

Mahiques, a Buenos Aires Province native and a University of Buenos Aires law graduate, built a career spanning the judiciary and executive branch roles

President Javier Milei appointed Juan Bautista Mahiques, until now the chief prosecutor of the City of Buenos Aires, as Argentina’s new justice minister, replacing Mariano Cúneo Libarona. The change was confirmed after Cúneo Libarona resigned, citing personal reasons.

Mahiques, a Buenos Aires Province native and a University of Buenos Aires law graduate, built a career spanning the judiciary and executive branch roles. He entered the federal court system in his early 20s, later working in criminal courts, before moving closer to politics. Under former president Mauricio Macri, he served at the Justice Ministry in a post dealing with penitentiary affairs and judicial relations, and he also sat on the Council of the Magistracy as an executive-branch representative, the body involved in selecting and disciplining judges.

In Buenos Aires City, his tenure as chief prosecutor has been linked to a push to reorganize prosecutorial resources and expand specialized units. In the days before his national appointment, he signed a measure creating new prosecutor offices aimed at complex-crime investigations and easing pressure in high-demand jurisdictions.

Under Resolution 12/2026 issued by the City’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutor offices No. 41, 42, 43 and 45 are set to begin operating on April 1, 2026 (at Av. de Mayo 654), while offices No. 44 and 46 are scheduled to start on June 1, 2026 (at Azopardo 1335). The resolution also sets how the new offices are assigned within fiscal units and establishes gender-violence specialization for specific offices.

Mahiques also carries an international profile: since September 2022 he has served as president of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), a global network of prosecutors. His appointment comes as Milei’s government says it intends to press ahead with judicial and criminal-law changes in the new legislative cycle.

In his first public remarks after the announcement, Mahiques stressed legal certainty, stable rules and judicial independence as pillars for institutional functioning and economic development, Reuters reported.