Julio César Castiglioni: "New member of the JNE has a conflict of interest"

Updated on 07/11/2021 07:38 pm

The lawyer Julio César Castiglioni considered that the early incorporation of Vicente Miguel Sánchez Villanueva-the former dean of the Faculty of Law and current professor of the UCV-as a new member of the Plenary of the National Elections Jury (JNE) represents a “conflict of interest” with “your employer”: Cesar Acuna, founder and leader of the bank of Alliance for Progress (APP).

The JNE is made up of five members, one representative from each of the following institutions, who are elected for a four-year term: Supreme Court of Justice, which presides over it; Board of Supreme Prosecutors; Lima Bar Association, law schools of public universities and private universities.

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“César Acuña has been the employer of Vicente Miguel Sánchez Villanueva who is the new representative of the private universities before the National Elections Jury; the term is not a pejorative expression because Sánchez maintains an economic dependence on the APP leader; He was dean of the UCV Law School and currently works as a teacher, for that reason he has a conflict of interest. Sánchez Villanueva will have to inhibit himself in the hearings every time there is a cause from Cesar Acuña’s political party (APP), especially when a regional and municipal electoral process is approaching, ”Castiglioni told Peru21TV.

At another time, the specialist in electoral law suggested that the National Board of the Peruvian Bar Associations be the one to appoint the representative of the Lima Bar Association (CAL) before the Plenary of the National Elections Jury (JNE) and thus prevent its composition be affected in the event that one of its members refuses to decide.

“The Congress of the Republic should rule that it is the National Board of the Bar Associations that appoints a member of the National Elections Jury, since the Lima Bar Association, unfortunately, is in a situation of chaos. In this way, a quorum would be guaranteed when one of its members withdraws from the hearings ”, he remarked.