Spanish university denies Kassio Marques graduate degree

The academic curriculum presented by Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, appointed by Jair Bolsonaro to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), includes a postgraduate degree that is not confirmed by the University of La Coruña, in Spain.

In the curriculum that he sent to the Federal Regional Court of the First Region (TRF-1) and which was published on the TRF website, Marques mentions that he completed a postgraduate degree in Public Procurement from the University of La Coruña. The institution, however, when questioned by the report, reported that it does not offer postgraduate courses in this course. “We inform you that the University of La Coruña did not offer any postgraduate courses under the name of Postgraduate in Public Procurement,” the university stated, in response to the Status.

When asked directly if Kassio Marques participated in at least one activity under the name “Contratos Públicos”, the University sent a copy of a Marques certificate, showing that the judge participated only in a four-day course, between and February 5. September 2014. “Kassio Nunes Marques participated as a listener in the” I Euro-Brazilian Course on Public Procurement “, organized by the University of Coruña, the Ibero-American Doctorate Program in Administrative Law, the Ibero-American Network of Public Procurement, the Brazilian Institute of Legal Studies in Infrastructure and the Research Group in Global Public Law, held at the Faculty of Law of A Coruña between September 1 and 5, 2014 ”, the certificate reports.

Questions about the curriculum have already caught the attention of Kassio Marques. In the virtual hearing that he had on Tuesday 6 with seven senators, the judge even made comments to parliamentarians about the graduate courses. According to a senator present at the meeting, the judge would have expressed concern about the repercussion that this issue could win, but he told the senators that, in the event of a controversy, he already had the justifications. At one point, Marques even mentioned that there is no legal training requirement for someone to assume the position of STF minister, but immaculate knowledge.

Marques’ study plan also mentions two postgraduate courses carried out at the University of Salamanca, Spain: the first, a doctorate in Law, specializing in Administration, Finance and Justice; the second, a post-doctorate in Human Rights. Questioned by the report, the university reported that public information about students is available on the institution’s website. The doctorate appears, in fact, on the university page – with a detail: the thesis was defended just 11 days ago, on September 25. The post-doctorate in Human Rights, however, is not in the public database of the University of Salamanca.

Another postdoctoral course mentioned in Kassio Nunes Marques’ curriculum appears in his curriculum, Constitutional Law, by the University of Messina (Universitá Degli Studi di Messina), in Italy. Questioned by the report four days ago, the university has not yet responded about the judge’s performance in this course.

It is also worth noting that Kassio Nunes Marques, 48, completed his PhD just 11 days ago and has already completed two post-doctorates in his academic career. The judge also does not use an instrument that is usually used to accredit her academic experience, the Lattes curriculum, a basic tool that is used to attest, in detail, of her training and academic life.

In Brazil, Kassio Nunes Marques reported in his study plan that he has one more postgraduate degree, this time in Legal Sciences, from the Faculdade Maranhense – MA. The report found no higher education institution with that name offering this graduate degree. The Faculdade Maranhense (FAM), contacted by the report, reported that it has no courses related to law. The Faculdade Maranhense São José dos Cocais, contacted by the report on Monday, the 6th, has not yet responded if the course is offered and if Kassio Nunes Marques was a student at the institution.

Regarding the graduation of Marques in Law, from the Federal University of Piauí, the university confirmed that he finished the course in 1994 and said that he had obtained an Academic Performance Index of 8.3704 points, “without any record that harms his academic conduct” .

Each of this information was sent, through messages, to Kassio Nunes Marques, requesting clarification on the courses mentioned, year and duration. So far, there has been no response. THE Status sent the same questions to TRF-1 on Tuesday 6. The court’s press office said that “he is not authorized to speak on behalf of federal judge Kassio Marques, who, for now, is not responding to the demands of the press. “. . The TRF indicated that, according to the magistrate’s office, the updated official curriculum is available on the court’s website.

This Tuesday 6, during a visit to the congressional senators, Kassio Marques came to remember that academic training, in fact, would not be a decisive factor in electing a minister of the STF. Commenting on his defensive stance against corruption, he said that “I would be perplexed if any Brazilian citizen were appointed, be they a lawyer, magistrate or another citizen, since the Constitution does not require that they have even a law degree to be minister of law. the Supreme Court of Justice “. Federal, against the fight against corruption ”.

In fact, it is not necessary to have a law degree to be a minister of the STF. The requirement of “significant legal knowledge”, as provided by law, can be achieved by anyone with any background, who has a thorough knowledge and mastery of the law.