Havana, February 27.- The Carlos Manuel de Céspedes National Law Award, corresponding to 2023, was awarded today, in a solemn ceremony held in the Assembly Hall of the University of Havana, to José Luis Toledo Santander.
The National Union of Jurists of Cuba (UNJC) awards the award annually, with the purpose of recognizing the life and work of jurists who have maintained an outstanding professional career, in teaching, research or the exercise of the profession, for which The jury unanimously decided to award the distinction to Toledo Santander, who currently heads the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Commission of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).
The occasion was accompanied by words of praise from Ana María Mari Machado, vice president of the ANPP and the Council of State, Yamila Peña Ojeda, attorney general of the Republic, Óscar Manuel Silvera Martínez, Minister of Justice, and his colleague Juan Mendoza Díaz, also deserving of the Award.
These highlighted the work of Toledo Santander, which together with the merits garnered through his long career, the responsibilities and missions carried out successfully, which allow us to recognize in his figure a high example of performance in the practice and development of Law in Cuba.
When speaking, the honoree pointed out the family and the Revolution as the greatest pillars of his life, thanks to which he became a professional and which has placed trust in him to implement crucial tasks for the country and socialist construction.
I will continue working with the same enthusiasm, dedication and commitment as always, or perhaps with the addition of reciprocating the appreciation and respect of so many valuable colleagues who have not wasted space for congratulations, he concluded.
José Luis Toledo Santander initially served in the Attorney General's Office of the Republic with outstanding results that led him to the leadership of this body in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Havana until he was appointed deputy attorney general of the Republic.
After that, he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana, directing the process of teaching and scientific consolidation of the center of higher studies, where he achieved his status as a doctor in Legal Sciences, a master's degree in Public Law, specialist in criminal sciences and professor.
In his capacity as deputy to the ANPP for the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, he was a member of the National Defense and Constitutional and Legal Affairs commissions, being elected president of this, a condition he holds to date and since which he has integrated the drafting commissions of important laws of the country, such as the Constitutional Reform of 2002, the drafting of the current Constitution of the Republic in 2019 and the Family Code, as well as all the laws of constitutional development approved since the validity of the current Magna Carta.
All of this, together with his dedicated professional career and the extensive record of services provided to the country and to the law, support the decision to award him the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes National Law Award.
This distinction was instituted in May 2005 at the organization's VI Congress and has since recognized nearly twenty jurists appointed in their own name to exercise their profession on the island, among whom are Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, Armando Hart Dávalos, Luis Solá Vila and Olga Miranda Bravo, among others. (Text and photo: ACN)
