The president of the Supreme Court, Horace Rosattidecided to swear in four new members of the Judicial Council at the time when the Palace of Justice looks darkest. With this act he began to show off a new stage with his seal in the organization that includes himself as its head according to the reinstatement of a 1997 law that has been repealed. The act crowned the landing of the highest court in the body of advisers in the midst of the gigantic uproar that followed the move with which the Front of All in the Senate was divided to win a place as the second minority in the Council for which Martín Doñate was appointed.
Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Serge Massaagreed to send the name of Roxanne Reyes, that the radicals demanded of him. The great paradox that will come following this fierce battle is that there is nothing to suggest that the integration of the “new” Council will guarantee major changes in dynamics and prompt solutions to pending problems (such as the appointment of judges) because Neither the ruling party nor the opposition have a guaranteed majority. Of course, the tiebreaker might be in charge of Rosatti.
The event in the Court’s hearing room was surrounded by a strong security operation. Reyes and Doñate were not included in the game despite the fact that the legislative procedure was fulfilled and their names were sent to Rosatti by the presidencies of the Senate and of Deputies. They took over as legal advisers Maria Fernanda VazquezDean of Law at the University of Lomas de Zamora and Jimena de la Torre, ex-official of the macrista AFIP; as an academic Pamela Tolosadean of the Faculty of Law of the Universidad del Sur, and for the establishment of judges, the magistrate Agustina Diaz Corderowho also worked for the Cambiemos administration.
Macri and the judges finger
With the 13-member composition that was in place for fifteen years, it was always difficult for one sector to prevail over the other comfortably. During the government of Mauricio Macri that ruling party did not have a guaranteed majority either, but installed a mechanism to appoint judges by finger with a simple majority with the transfer mechanism. This explains that during all that time nobody worried regarding invalidating the structure of the Council, which was questioned in a drawer of the Court, which only dusted off last December.
Since last year, the Council has advanced in the approval of short lists in twenty competitions for 56 positions, including two in the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires (where the transferred are still Leopoldo Bruglia y Pablo Bertuzzi), three courts of Comodoro Py, and six places in the oral courts of Retiro, among the most coveted. Together for Change, in alliance with some judges, blocked the approval of short lists in an open manner, while the newspapers and portals headlined that the ruling party was pressing. An absurdity, even more so considering that judges have been complaining for years because there are regarding 30 percent vacancies. Even Rosatti often scolds for it.
Virtual tie in the Judiciary
The new composition does not guarantee two thirds, which is the majority necessary to vote for shortlists of judges or promote political trials, to any sector. In the Council of 20 members, two thirds are 13 votes. Nor does it allow clear majorities to be configured. “The Council will continue to be paralyzed”, for that reason, said this Wednesday the counselor Diego Mariasaligned with Together for Change, Let’s see:
- Until now, the “official” bloc was satisfied with the representative of the Executive Geronimo Ustarrozthe deputy vanessa sileythe senator Mariano RecaldeSenator Inés Pilatti de Vergara, in habitual alliances with the academic Diego Molea and the chambermaid Alberto Lugones. The vote of Graciela Camano (Federal Interblock) was key for this sector. From now on, in addition to Doñate, the organization assumes that Vázquez and Tolosa would have an affinity with this wing.
- Until now, the macrista block had the deputy Pablo Tonelli, the senator Silvia Giacoppothe chambermaid of radical origin Ricardo RecondoJudge Juan Manuel Culotta and the lawyers Marias and Carlos Matterson. Sometimes they had Caamaño on their side. Undoubtedly, deputy Reyes, lawyer De La Torre and judge Díaz Cordero were part of this sector.
So things are shaping up almost a tie. Camaño and, of course, Rosatti will have a key role if the latter complies with his demands, something that he even told the Minister of Justice, Martin Soria, in his official visit, should push the approval of shortlists of judges, although some do not like the best positioned names. They say that the supreme spoke with the presidents of all the federal chambers, with whom he met this Wednesday as if to show himself supported by the corporation itself.
