More than a week after the false start of the nominating committees for magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Courts of Appeal, two possible candidates are being heard to occupy the secretariats: one from the Aspa group, to which magistrate Nester Vásquez is linked, and another from the Platform of Professionals for Justice, related to the former rector of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (Usac), Estuardo Gálvez.
The law on nominating committees establishes that each one must have a principal secretary and a substitute, whose function will be “the control of the files and the execution of the resolutions adopted by the committees.”
Former members of the commissions explain that it is a demanding and highly responsible function, because the secretaries must also deal with the appeals and actions that are filed against the decisions of the nominating committee.
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César Díaz, from the Platform of Professionals for Justice group and elected representative of the College of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala (Cang), is emerging as a candidate for the post of secretary of the commission for the Appeals Chambers, according to sources from the group.
According to the Pro Justice Movement, Díaz taught at the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences at Usac and was a legal advisor at the Directorate of Court Management Services of the Judicial Branch. He was also part of the technical team that collaborated in the nomination processes for attorney general in 2018 and 2022, and Inacif in 2022.
Not everything is written
However, there are still not enough votes – 25 – to decide any election, according to consultations with several commissioners and members of the trade associations. This week will be decisive, they point out, if one takes into account that Congress could swear in the two absent deans so that the sessions of the commissions can be reactivated.
Other candidates may also emerge. In Unidad x la Justicia, slate 8, which brought together corporate lawyers and some close to the Government or the Movimiento Semilla party, there is interest in assuming the position of secretary of the Appeals Chambers Commission, said Gregorio Saavedra.
“We are willing to build a consensus. More than a battle or a victory, it is an action to give certainty to the process,” he said.
There have also been proposals to offer the position to one of the deans.
However, to date the swearing-in of two of the 37 members of each commission is pending: the deans of the Faculties of Legal Sciences of the Francisco Marroquín and Mariano Gálvez universities.
While this is happening, the sessions of the nominating committees cannot take place.
The process was supposed to begin on July 11 and 12, but was interrupted because several commissioners argued that with the absence of the deans – the two pending ones – the nominating committees were not fully integrated.
In previous application processes, it has been observed that most deans have played a role in defending the best academic and professional profiles.
In a statement on July 18, Pro Justicia indicated that “several deans are reluctant to participate in the renewal processes of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Courts of Appeal.”
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He added that there were intimidating actions and that in the legal profession “there have been timid alarms that there are operators promoting shady alliances, with the condition that the alliances last throughout the process and are not changeable.”
To ensure total power over the files, he argues, these groups would seek to occupy the secretariats and the headquarters of the commissions.
The MP dismisses complaints
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) reported that in August 2022 the Prosecutor’s Office for Administrative Crimes dismissed the complaint filed by Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, of the Foundation against Terrorism, against seven law deans who participated in the nomination process for attorney general.
Méndez accused the deans of several crimes that he linked to their resistance to excluding Consuelo Porras from the list of candidates for head of the MP.
Porras was ultimately included to comply with a resolution of the Constitutional Court and President Alejandro Giammattei chose her to lead the MP for a second term.
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