At the seventh meeting of the permanent session of the Supreme Court Nomination Commission for 2024-2029, a memorial was presented against Miquel Cortés, president of this commission.
Ricardo Sagastume, from the firm Sagastume Vidaurre y Asociados, was in charge of presenting this claim during the session held this Saturday, August 10.
The lawsuit questions the legality of the presidency by pointing out that he is supposedly not Guatemalan, exposing six articles of the political constitution of the Republic of Guatemala.
Father Miquel Cortés Bofill, born in Spain but naturalized as a Guatemalan 5 years ago, is the rector of the Universidad Landívar. He is a Jesuit priest with more than 29 years of service experience in Latin America. On June 6, the Forum of rectors of the country’s universities elected him to preside over the nomination committee.
However, a letter and an action were presented in which various articles of the Political Constitution of the Republic are mentioned, stating that he cannot be part of this commission.
Under the heading “a good man never acts contrary to the law,” Sagastume highlighted Article 153 of the Magna Carta Rule of Law, pointing out that this extends to all persons who are in the territory of the Republic.
As well as “any foreign national resident or transiting based on article 5 of the law of the judicial body.”
Article 4 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala speaks about “the principle of equality consisting in that all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights, but also alludes to the fact that all are subject to the law, according to file 670 2003 with a ruling of December 21, 2004 of the Constitutional Court.”
Sagastume also cited article 162, which states that there are requirements for the position of deputy and that one must be Guatemalan by origin. While article 185 mentions the requirements to opt for the position of president or vice president of the Republic. In addition, article 186 mentions the prohibitions for the previously described article, which states that ministers of any religion or cult cannot participate.
In Sagastume’s writing, reference is also made to article 207, which establishes the requirements to be a magistrate or judge, since they must be Guatemalan by origin, according to him. In light of all of the above, he stated that Cortés Bofill would not meet the requirements.
In response to the action brought by Sagastume, the president of the CSJ Nomination Commission and dean of Landívar University, Miquel Cortés, defended himself by presenting his DPI and stating that he has been a naturalized citizen since 2019. He emphasized that said action will be heard in various points. pic.twitter.com/8QzLZRsk7n
— Andrea Dominguez (@andread_gtv) August 11, 2024
“I am naturalized”
When questioned by Guatevisión and Prensa Libre, the president of the Commission rejected the questions about his nationality and described them as speculation and misinformation.
“What I understand, as the secretary informed me, is that a memorial has been transferred to various points. In any case, I have to tell him that I am a naturalized Guatemalan and I have my DPI,” said Cortés, who went on to show it.
“I have my passport, I don’t have it on hand, but I show it (my DPI) so that they don’t have any doubts, right? I can vote in this country and I can participate, the Constitution allows me to,” Cortés reiterated.
“On the other hand, I represent the Forum of Rectors of the 15 universities in the country and what the Constitution says in Article 215, that a rector of the universities of the country will preside over the Commission; so I am complying with the Constitution. Everything else is speculation, everything else is misinformation, I regret that there is this ignorance because it is not an impediment in law for me to be able to exercise this function that is also public” concluded Cortés.
Miquel Cortés Bofill also pointed out that this action brought against him will be heard when the various points within the agenda established by the Commission are reviewed.
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