Guatemala City - In Guatemala's long struggle to establish a transparent and efficient legal system, the upcoming elections of new magistrates for the Guatemalan Supreme Court and the Guatemalan Appellant Courts are of paramount importance. Never before has this process been as important and relevant as it is at this particular moment in Guatemala's history.
The current context of infiltration of organized crime in political parties, the congress, the courts and other elements of Guatemala's justice system and law enforcement agencies are the reason why the new magistrates of the Supreme Court and the Appellant Courts need to be apolitical, independent and not tainted by undesirable associations. If the current efforts of the country to fight organized crime are to have any chance of succeeding, these courts must be a beacon of transparency and credibility.
The History of the Supreme Court and the Appellant Courts in Guatemala.
Before Guatemala's new constitution was written in 1986, the process of elections of new magistrates for the Supreme Court and the Appellant Courts was a "black box". Nobody really knew how the magistrates where elected. There where no procedures or norms, just negotiations behind closed doors by representatives of the political parties. A direct consequence of this procedure was the extreme politization of the process. The magistrates usually had political commitments to the party that got them elected; therefore there was no real independence between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.
The new Constitution of 1986 included a legally defined process of nomination and election of the magistrates. They included 3 new actors in the nomination commission who where non-political, independent, with academic credentials and credibility: Guatemalan Lawyers Association, The Deans of Law Schools of the Universities of the country and the Rectors of the Universities in Guatemala.
The nominations are now presented by 5 different sectors:
- Guatemalan Lawyers Association
- The current magistrates of the Supreme Court
- The current magistrates of the Appellant Courts
- The Deans of Law Schools of the Universities of the country (9 Universities have Law schools)
- The Rectors of the 11 Universities in Guatemala
These 5 sectors conform two nomination commissions each, one for the nominations of magistrates for the Supreme Court and another commission for the nomination of magistrates for the Appellant Courts.
Ten years ago there was little debate in the Guatemalan society about the Supreme Court and Appellant Courts. Their performance was not brilliant, but it did not cause alarm either. They seemed to be functioning at an acceptable level.
During the last decade however, the reputation of the Supreme Court, the Appellant Courts, judges in general and the Public Ministry have fallen into deep discredit and ill repute.
Basically many elements of the justice system would not do their duty to investigate and convict the criminals. They could be bought of, bribed, intimidated and operated as they wished. They are currently part of organized crime, they represent powefull sectors of Guatemala that uses the justice system as they see it fit, not in accordance with any resemblance of justice and according to the laws of Guatemala.
The relationship between justice and security is inseparable. If the police forces are improving their capacity to catch criminals and the courts then set them free, the system becomes a joke. The trust of the public is betrayed and the security situation can not improve.
The nominations process of the magistrates by the 5 different sectors worked well for a while. Then the dark forces figured out how to influence this process to. They directed their effort at each one of the sectors that can nominate candidates for magistrate.
In the Guatemalan Lawyers Association, they influence the election of the President and Board of Directors for the period when magistrates are nominated. It is easy to buy votes and influence the lawyers to support a certain candidate as the new President of the Association.
The magistrates of the Supreme Court and the magistrates of the Appellant Courts are also subject to the same manipulation and influences, so are the Deans and Rectors of the Universities.
In short, the nomination process that will start in May 2009, has to be watched and monitored by all sectors of the Guatemalan society like hawks. Especial attention needs to be paid to this important event that can make or break the Guatemalan justice system.
Renzo Rosal*: Guatemalan Independent Political Analyst
