The nominating committee for the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) suspended the first working meeting on Thursday, July 11. Of the 37 commissioners who are to be part of it, only 35 were present, due to the fact that two of them were not sworn in by the Congress of the Republic and might not join the body.

Among them were the deans of the law schools of the Francisco Marroquín University (UFM) and the Mariano Gálvez University. The first resigned before taking the oath and the second was out of the country when Congress convened the commissioners.

There are precedents in other nominating commissions that began their activities with commissioners pending swearing in. But for this occasion, the representatives of the appellate judges and the College of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala (Cang), asked to suspend the first work meeting.

Armando Ajin, the CANG commissioner elected by the UGAP slate, indicated that starting the meetings disbanded might lead to legal action. He clarified that this would put at risk the decisions that the commission might make.

“We can verify that the commission is not composed as the Constitution requires. It seems that two deans are missing, who have not been sworn in by the honorable Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, and the Constitution requires that the commission be composed of 37 commissioners,” he argued.

José Alejandro Ortiz, a judge of appeals, used a similar argument to request the suspension of the meeting. “Our Constitution is very clear in mentioning how it will be formed. If this commission is not formed, we might have some kind of legal problem later on.”

The discussion on whether or not to suspend the session lasted several minutes. Commissioner José Urrutia, the CANG representative elected by ASPA, even recommended to the president of the Court of Appeals Commission, Horacio Arévalo, to suspend the meeting of the other commission because they are going to face the same problem.

“Among other things, we should make a call to the appeals commission. The rector is here in the audience, please take note because this is something we did not expect.”

Letter to Congress and universities

The president of the nomination committee is Miquel Cortés, rector of Rafael Landívar University (URL). He said that he will send letters to Congress and to the UFM to resolve the obstacle that prevented them from starting their work. “This letter will be issued today.”

The president of the CSJ Nomination Committee said that they expected to agree on a series of topics that would be crucial for their future activities on Thursday 11. “The agenda and the work schedule, the proposed agenda, have been put on hold because they are elements that must be approved by the committee. We will have to wait, there is no other option.”

Prudent decision

It was prudent to suspend the meeting according to the evaluation of the monitoring organizations Movimiento Pro Justicia and Guatemala Visible.

Carmen Aida Ibarra, director of the Pro Justice Movement, says that the current context is different, and recalls that there are apparent power groups interested in postponing the renewal of the judiciary once more, as occurred in 2019.

“I think it was prudent to adjourn the session, not to install the commission because the situation is different. Although there may be a legal argument to support the course of the session, it is also true that there is a lot of interest in obstructing and delaying the installation of the Cortes as much as possible,” says Ibarra.

For her part, Marielos Fuentes, from Guatemala Visible, believes that the decision was correct, since continuing without all the commissioners being present would generate possible legal actions that would put the work of the commission at risk.

“There was a lot of discussion regarding how delicate this process is, particularly the expectations of the members. This is because of the many resources that might interfere with the course of the nomination process, and I think they took the precaution.”

Headquarters

Today, the URL will also host the meeting of the Nomination Committee for the Court of Appeals. The meeting is still scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, July 12.

The meeting that was suspended was supposed to ratify the headquarters of the nominating committees. The URL offered this, but the decision must be validated by a vote in the two nominating committees.

Some commissioners would have the intention of proposing a change of venue for the two nominating committees, so that the remaining sessions would possibly be held in the Courtroom of the Palace of Justice.

Ibarra believes that taking the files to the magistrates’ headquarters might be risky. “The idea is that the headquarters should be a neutral place, where it is guaranteed that no one will vandalize anything.”

Fuentes added that a neutral location is required to prevent the alteration of documents or files of potential candidates for justice positions.

“There are two logistical aspects. One is the safekeeping of the files. There are precedents where pages have appeared or disappeared from the boxes, so it is crucial to have infallible custody; two, the logistics and the space of the place.”