Milei took the oath of Juan Bautista Mahiques as the new Minister of Justice at Casa Rosada

President Javier Milei took the oath of office of Juan Bautista Mahiques as the new Minister of Justice during a ceremony held in the White Room of the Casa Rosada. The event took place before the president embarked on a new official trip to the United States

The appointment marks the beginning of a new phase in the management of the judicial portfolio, after the departure of Mariano Cúneo Libarona, who had headed the ministry since the beginning of the libertarian administration.

The ceremony was attended by members of the national cabinet, judicial officials and leaders close to the ruling party. Among the attendees, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, stood out, one of the key figures in defining the appointment

During the ceremony, the President swore an oath to Mahiques before the Holy Sacraments “for God and for the Fatherland”, within the framework of the traditional institutional protocol that is made for the assumption of ministers.

The Government made the appointment official by decree

The appointment of the new head of Justice was made official through Decree 133/2026, published in the Official Gazette and signed by President Javier Milei and the

Chief of Staff.

The change also impacts the representation of the Executive Branch within the Judicial Council, a key body for the functioning of the Argentine judicial system.

Santiago Viola, recently appointed Deputy Minister of Justice, will assume a new role there.

Viola is a leader close to the libertarian space and one of the legal representatives of La Libertad Avanza, the party that led Milei to the presidency.

Who is Juan Bautista Mahiques

Juan Bautista Mahiques, 45, comes from a family with a long history in the Argentinian judiciary. He is the son of Carlos “Coco” Mahiques, judge of Chamber I of the Federal Criminal Cassation Chamber

Their family environment also has a presence in different institutional spaces.

His brother Esteban Mahiques serves in the Foreign Ministry and is part of the AFA Disciplinary Court, while Ignacio Mahiques, the youngest of the clan, is a Buenos Aires prosecutor and participated as a deputy in the road case against Cristina Kirchner.

The arrival of Mahiques to the Ministry of Justice comes at a time when the Government seeks to move forward with institutional reforms and consolidate its judicial agenda.