WASHINGTON, USA – The Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) for the selection of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and Courts of Appeals and other Tribunals of Equal Category in Guatemala welcomes the recent submission of the final lists of candidates for the Congress of the Republic by the Nomination Committees.
In view of the upcoming election of authorities to the country’s high courts, the Mission urges the deputies of Congress to fulfill their constitutional mandate to elect magistrates who respond to the interests of the people of Guatemala and who comply with the provisions of Article 113 of the Constitution regarding the merits of capacity, suitability and honesty. To have an independent justice system, it is necessary that members of Congress do not act in a personal capacity and do not respond to partisan or external interests.
The Mission reiterates that it is necessary for Congress to elect candidates with the best academic, professional and human projection characteristics. Considering the standards for the election of judges, the Mission also highlights the need to incorporate a gender, intersectional and intercultural perspective in the selection of judges, considering the history of discrimination and underrepresentation of women, indigenous peoples and other groups in Guatemala.
The Mission reiterates the importance of deputies considering the honorability of candidates at the time of election. It is important that this criterion be given the deserved value, since honorability is not measured solely through firm sentences. The fact that a candidate does not formally have a definitive condemnatory decision does not mean that the criteria expressed regarding the career and complaints about them can be dismissed for the purposes of evaluating honorability. Ignoring this puts the existence of an independent judicial system at risk.
Congress should not be subject to the criteria of honorability established by the Nominating Commissions (existence of a final judgment) and should consider other substantive aspects in accordance with international standards to define the honorability of the candidates. Likewise, the Mission calls on Congress to consider giving space to civil society to express its opinion on the candidates and present information that it considers relevant to their suitability for the position.
The Mission calls on the Congress of the Republic to recognize the enormous responsibility it has with the election of judges to the high courts. The deputies have a historic opportunity to positively mark the democratic direction of the country and begin to restore confidence in the judicial system. Because of this, in order to assume the responsibility that the position they hold before the people of Guatemala entails, the Mission requests that Congress hold a voice vote to publicly argue the reasons and criteria by which they vote for a candidate.
The Mission hopes that the election by Congress will be carried out without coercion, influence peddling, corruption or criminalization of its participants or any situation that may delay the process. The Mission emphasizes how vital it is that the election process is not stopped and continues so that the elected judges are sworn in and take possession of their positions on October 13.
The Mission has a communication channel with private institutions, civil society organizations and the general public through which they can present information that is considered relevant to the work of the Mission.
