Born in the city of
Vassouras, Barroso received a bachelor's degree in law from the
State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in 1980, and an
LL.M. from
Yale Law School in 1987. He received a doctorate in
public law from UERJ in 2008 and is a tenured professor of constitutional law at the university. In 2011, Barroso was a visiting scholar at
Harvard Law School, and while in the United States published the paper "Here, there and everywhere: human dignity in contemporary law and in the transnational discourse". At 2011, Barroso became nationally known for being the lawyer of the militant
Cesare Battisti in Brazil. Barroso implemented a defense that argued that his client's actions were justified because the actions were part of Battisti's fight against an authoritarian Italian regime. Barroso owned the law firm Luís Roberto Barroso & Associados in
Rio de Janeiro, which specialized in public law and Supreme Court litigation. He was confirmed by the
Federal Senate in early June, and was sworn into office on 26 June 2013. Barroso has been invited to lecture in various universities around the world, including the
New York University School of Law, in the United States, and
London School of Economics and
Oxford University, in England. Barroso is an advocate for drug legalization, starting with
decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for private consumption. His judicial views have been described as
progressive. On 9 October 2025, Barroso announced his retirement from the Supreme Federal Court, eight years before the mandatory retirement age of 75. == Controversies ==