The plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) elected Judge María Eugenia López Arias as its new president on Monday afternoon.
López Arias, appointed by President Laurentino Cortizo, was ratified by the National Assembly on December 4, 2019.
He replaced magistrate Jerónimo Mejía in the Second Criminal Chamber, whose term expired on December 31, 2017.
López Arias took office on Thursday, December 5, 2019 in the Yellow room of the Presidency of the Republic before Cortizo.
The new president replaces magistrate Luis Ramón Fábrega, who ended his term as magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice on December 31.
The vice president of this justice corporation will be Magistrate Olmedo Arrocha.
It should be noted that López will also be president of the Second Criminal Chamber and the Fourth General Business Chamber. The presidents of the other two chambers were also elected on the spot; so that Olmedo Arrocha will also be the president of the First Civil Chamber, while Carlos Alberto Vásquez will be president of the Third Administrative Litigation Chamber.
Article 74 of the Judicial Code establishes that, “in the month of January, every two years, the Supreme Court of Justice will elect, by majority vote, the president and vice president of the corporation. The president will have, in addition to the powers established by law, presiding over the plenary session, the Chamber to which it belongs and the General Business Chamber. The other two chambers will elect, in the same act in the same way, the respective president, one of whom will be elected vice president of the corporation”.
