The 13 new judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala assumed their positions and appointed lawyer Óscar Ruperto Cruz Oliva, who in the past was accused of a corruption case, as president of the Judicial Branch.
The new magistracy took office on Friday night, for one year, to complete the 2019-2024 period. This was reported this Saturday by the same Judicial Body.
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Cruz Oliva replaces Silvia Valdés Quezada as president of the Supreme Court, who leaves office along with the other 12 former judges.
Cruz Oliva was accused in 2020 by the authorities of trying to manipulate the election of the Supreme Court justices in 2019 and 2020. The case did not prosper against him.
The new Supreme Court of Justice was elected last Wednesday by the Guatemalan Congress. This after 4 years of keeping the renewal process of its highest judicial authorities frozen.
The deputies appointed the new 13 Supreme Court justices, a week after the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, ordered them to select the authorities to end the 2019-2024 period.
Congress chose the new judges from a list of 26 candidates sent since 2020 by a nomination commission. Accused by the defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) of rigging the process, including Cruz Oliva.
The Judicial Branch Reports:#OJ #CSJ #OJInformative pic.twitter.com/VXom63ENoX
— Judicial Branch (@OJGuatemala) November 18, 2023
Election of magistrates with anomalies?
Some opposition congressmen denounced, during the plenary session in which the election was held, that the procedure was not adequate due to the anomalies that existed in the previous selection phases.
The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest authority of the Judicial Branch. In addition, one of the three branches of the Guatemalan State, along with the Legislative Body and the Executive Body.
The outgoing judges of the Supreme Court of Justice remained in office irregularly for 4 years extra to their term. This is due to the stagnation of the election of his successors.
Among the elected magistrates, the presence of Manuel Duarte stands out, who in 2020 was also accused of participating in the rigging of the election of the Guatemalan courts and is sanctioned by the United States with a ban on entry to its territory.
The Supreme Court of Justice could play a key role in the attempts of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) to remove the immunity of the elected president, Bernardo Arévalo de León, for a case disclosed this week of alleged damage to public assets.
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