June 29, 2023, 4:00 AM
June 29, 2023, 4:00 AM
“Talk about judicial career it is to speak of judicial independence”. That was the answer offered yesterday by the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Ricardo Torres Echalar, who is participating in Santa Cruz in the second preparatory meeting for the XXI Ibero-American Judicial Summit.
The magistrate’s statement reinforces the report presented in February 2022 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, who mentioned that Of the total number of judges who work in the country’s courts, only 44% are career judges, while more than 50% are temporary. This, according to the senior official, causes instability and does not encourage independent conduct by those who work in the judiciary.
The Council of the Magistracy in 2022 had a record of 1,138 judges in office, of those, just over 600 perform their functions on the basis of “transitory” contracts that culminate from time to time and that must be renewed based on the legal provisions in force, but also thanks to the contacts that the jurist has between the authorities of political power.
The president of the TSJ said that judges are being sought who owe their training, merits and position to a judicial career where they will be evaluated and trained. Likewise, he pointed out that a judge who owes his position to a duly institutionalized career, his rulings will reflect transparency, as society demands.
Mirtha Meneses, president of the Judicial Council, also agrees on this aspect. In her opinion, judicial independence has two components and one of them is the judicial career because it is the essential element for the administrator of justice.
On the other hand, in March of this year, the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, mentioned that the majority of justice administrators were pre-selected by the former president and head of the MAS, Evo Morales.
“90% of the judges who are administering justice come from that period of time. There is a criticism that has always been made in the country: that the judges are changing shirts, first they were evistas, then they became the team of Mrs. (Jeanine) Áñez and now it seems that they want to highlight that there is that third change of shirts, but that does not agree with reality, “he added. the minister of state.
According to data from the School of Judges, the autonomous entity of the Judicial Branch that is in charge of training future authorities, only managed to graduate 120 professionals in the 12 years it has been in existence.
Three legal experts observe that the choice of judicial authorities has to be more comprehensive and set aside the appointment by political ties.
According to the constitutional and municipal lawyer José Luis Santistevan, the Judicial Branch is not in a position to speak of independence.
“It is a very distracting topic to say that they are training judges because ideologically they all have a commitment to the Government because their appointment comes from there. That is to say, there has not been a real institutionalization in the Judicial Branch, therefore many judges and members of the departmental courts are linked to political power”, insisted Santistevan.
He also added that the judicial career exists or not, the big problem is still political power that has found mechanisms to co-opt the Judicial Branch, which is why a profound restructuring is needed starting with its main members.
Meanwhile, the also constitutionalist William Herrera said that although the judicial career seeks stability, it only focuses on the judges and not on “the heads.”
“Judicial independence is a big issue that not only involves the career and designation, but also requires a budget, training, and technology. That’s why, when talking about judicial reform there are several issues and not just one”Herrera said, adding that if you want to reform justice, it has to be something more comprehensive.
Similarly, Carlos Borth, also an expert in Constitutional Law, said that in theory those responsible for imparting justice, graduates of the School of Judges, they are supposed to be professionals who respect judicial independence. “But, in practice, the school itself is mediated and depends on political power to later pay the bill,” the lawyer concluded.
