João Pedro Chaves Valladares Pádua is a criminal lawyer with a master’s degree in Constitutional Law and State Theory from the PUC University in Rio de Janeiro. He is currently a PhD candidate in Language Studies at the same university and a professor of Penal Procedure law at the Federal University of Niteroi (UFF), in the Rio de Janeiro State. He is also the Director of Legal Affairs of the NGO Psicotropicus-Brazilian Center for Drug Policy.