Carlos Moran took the oath of office in a brief ceremony at the government headquarters as Vizcarra sought to cap a difficult week for his fledgling government.
Medina resigned late Wednesday after it emerged that a fugitive supreme court judge, Cesar Hinostroza -- awaiting trial in a cash-for-leniency scandal embroiling Peru's judiciary -- had slipped out of the country and fled to Spain.
"This is an embarrassing situation for the country," his Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva admitted in a statement to Congress about the judge's escape.
Hinostroza was sacked by Congress a fortnight ago and was awaiting trial for leading a criminal group inside the country's judiciary.
Vizcarra -- who has made fighting corruption his priority since taking office in March -- announced earlier Friday that Spain had placed Hinostroza in detention and was preparing his extradition.
Moran, the new minister, was a member of a special police unit that captured the leader of the Shining Path guerrillas in 1992.
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![33 passengers and one crew member died on the dive boat, Conception [Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/AP]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "33 passengers and one crew member died on the dive boat, Conception [Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/AP]")
