The nominating committee for the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) is already facing a first challenge over its workplace. A group of judges is seeking to take the nominating committee to the SCJ’s own hearing room.
The president of the nominating committee, Miquel Cortés, proposed that the venue be the Rafael Landívar University (URL), where he serves as rector, which already has warehouses with 24-hour security parameters, according to Cortés.
The magistrates of the Courts of Appeals are seeking to have the headquarters of the CSJ nominating committee be the Judicial Body. The argument is that the URL facilities are difficult to access for the commissioners and future candidates when submitting their files.
Before hearing the second proposal, Cortés was clear and indicated that a change of venue could complicate the work of the CSJ nominating commissioner, mainly due to constitutional deadlines. “Changing the venue would imply a considerable delay,” he said.
The president of the commission explained his proposal and said that “first of all, because, interpreting the spirit of the Constitution, that a rector presides from the academic sphere, I understand that the impartiality that the academy can have is sought. In addition, as president, I must guarantee that the headquarters meets the requirements of transparency and security.”
He stressed that he had already maintained communication with the National Civil Police (PNC) and that there are two warehouses with no access for individuals, video surveillance cameras and 24-hour security for the safekeeping of files and important paperwork.
They want the CSJ
Following that first proposal, after hearing the URL security controls, Judge Ramiro López proposed that the venue be the Courtroom of the CSJ itself.
Part of López’s arguments are based on the fact that the URL is deviating from its main task, which is the academy, adding the extra expenses that the university headquarters incurs with future work sessions.
López was not alone in his proposal, according to his initial arguments. “A group of magistrates seems to us to be somewhat ungrateful for the University. Can we ask where the seat should be? (…) I propose that the seat should be in the place of the elected official.”
The magistrate indicated that to say that changing the venue, at this stage, would not imply any delay, “is a fallacy and it is audacity to say so,” said the commissioner.
The magistrate even had a presentation to explain, in his opinion, the advantages that would be had with the change of venue, indicating that there are nearby parking lots, an area for receiving files and that it is a public building.
Roberto Hernández, also a magistrate, indicated that the guarantee of the process depends on the 37 commissioners. “We are the guarantors, not only you, Mr. President,” but he supported López’s proposal that the venue be the CSJ, “we are going to receive the files from the CSJ, we must also think about them to analyze which venue is the most accessible,” referring to future candidates.
Of the 12 judges of the Court of Appeals that make up this commission, Mario Passarelli and José Ortiz also supported the arguments for changing the venue. Some of the elected members of the College of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala (Cang) also supported the proposal.
Lawyer César Calmo, Cang’s representative elected by Unión, indicated that as a commissioner it has been difficult for him to reach the URL. He reaffirmed that a more central location should be sought.
“I wonder who is giving us this equipment and who is not providing it. There must be objectivity. I believe that it is Congress that should designate an accessible space for us so that we can arrive with the comforts,” he said.
There was a first round of voting and the transfer of the venue to the SCJ received 21 votes in favor.
More delays?
Although the magistrates argued that there would be no delays with the change of venue, not all the commissioners think that way. At least Luis Aragón, dean of Universidad San Pablo, said that a change of venue would practically delay the election of the SCJ.
“There had never been a discussion about the venue, where it started and continued (…) does anyone here want this to be delayed for another week?” the commissioner questioned.
Aragón was clear that a change of venue would affect the deadlines. “Not starting today will move another week. So, if we are willing to meet the deadlines and not leave a bad taste in the population’s mouth, that is what we must convey.”
Commissioner Wilson Lopez, elected by Cang for the Coalición Gremial ticket, also said that the changes in the headquarters could have another purpose for the current CSJ magistrates.
“I do not share the judge’s point of view because we must understand that the 13 judges of the CSJ want to be re-elected. There is no trust with the current Court because they have done nothing, they only live fighting. With the issue of the facilities, the press and observers would not have parking.”
The proposal for the CSJ nomination committee to remain at the URL received 15 votes.
Second time
Due to the lack of agreements, it was considered to request a report from the SCJ, to find out if there was the space, personnel and logistics necessary to host the nominating committee. But the vote did not reach the necessary 25.
The president of the nominating committee reaffirmed that there could be a possible case of conflict of interest if the seat of the commission were the CSJ. “The independence and neutrality of the university is a point in its favor. Because if we are going to elect magistrates of the CSJ in the CSJ there could be a conflict of interest.”
The magistrates of the Chamber, who are seeking the change of venue, claim that they have the support of the CSJ. They even submitted a document, signed by the secretary of the CSJ, dated Tuesday, July 30, in which they made their venue available.
The commission considered requesting a report from the SCJ, but the proposal did not obtain the necessary votes.
To continue with other points of the session, the nominating committee decided to postpone the topic of the venue to continue with the election of the titular and alternate secretary. This role is in charge of receiving any legal document that is submitted during the commission’s operating period.
Without reaching an agreement on defining the work location, the 37 commissioners approved modifying the agenda and approving the election of the secretary of the nominating committee.
This is the body responsible for receiving any legal documents submitted during the Commission’s operational period.
Without secretary
Several names were again proposed, but none received a majority. Among the first names to appear were Luis Aragón, Roberto Hernández, José Andrés Reyes and Óscar Enoc Ruíz, who received between 3 and 20 votes.
As this was not achieved, a second round was proposed among those who obtained the majority, but the consensus of the 25 required was not achieved either.
In total there were five rounds for the election in which no majority was obtained.
Since there was no agreement between the commissioners, the session was declared permanent and will continue this Thursday at the University headquarters while the agenda is defined. This was approved with 29 votes out of the 37 that were present at the meeting that lasted more than five hours.
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