CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL AND JUDICIAL COUNCIL

UNCLAS QUITO 000492 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KJUS EC SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL AND JUDICIAL COUNCIL RECONSTITUTED ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Coastal parties voted together on February 22 to select a new Constitutional Tribunal, excluding the main highland party, the Democratic Left (ID). The process followed constitutional guidelines and fulfills a key benchmark in our democracy promotion strategy. Important cases pending before the new court include the constitutionality of Congress' dissolution of the Supreme Court and the selection process for the current Supreme Court in December. In a separate but related development, on February 22 the Supreme Court named a new National Judicial Council, the administrative institution of the judicial branch, which will be responsible for developing a list of candidates for Attorney General for congressional approval, another milestone in the democratic rebuilding process. While recognizing the importance of reconstituting Ecuador's institutions, we do not recommend a USG public statement on the controversial new constitutional court. End Summary. Congress Chooses Constitutional Tribunal Judges -------------- -- ¶2. (U) Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal rules on constitutional issues, much like the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Ecuadorian Supreme Court, in contrast, functions as a Court of Appeals.) Newly-named constitutional court judges will be sworn in on February 24 for a four-year term. This court replaces its predecessor, selected in 2003 and disbanded by Congress in December 2004. The court has been vacant since then, causing an accumulation of 1,400 pending cases. The nine judges were chosen, per the constitution, from lists of nominees submitted to Congress by the following groups: the President (2),the Supreme Court (2),Congress (2),municipal and provincial leaders (1),unions (1),and business chambers (1). However, this constitutional process resulted in a highly politicized court, with coastal parties over-represented and the highland center-left ID party left out. ¶3. (U) An alliance of Leon Febres Cordero's PSC, Abdala Bucaram's PRE, Alvaro Noboa's PRIAN, and ex-President Lucio Gutierrez' PSP, and independents reached a simple majority of 55 votes to approve the judges. Of the judges named, four reportedly have strong ties to the PSC, one to the PRE, one to PRIAN, one PSP, and two are independent. The ID was surprised by the congressional vote, and controversy over the new court ensued. ID and other opponents claim the court should be limited to serve out the term of its illegally-destituted predecessor, ending in January 2007. ¶4. (U) The most prominent cases in the backlog facing the new court include the constitutionality of the congressional resolution which disbanded the Supreme Court in December 2004, the law passed to select the current Supreme Court sworn in in December 2005, and congressional approval of Claudio Mueckay as Human Rights Ombudsman. The court may also be called on to rule on the prosecution of ex-President Gutierrez and the constitutionality of the free trade agreement if signed between Ecuador and the United States. ¶5. (U) In addition to the outcry from the ID and other parties not represented in the new court, four citizen groups (Justice Networks, Citizen Participation, Rupture of the 25, and the Assembly of Women of Quito) have publicly criticized the politicization of the new court and the qualifications of some of the new magistrates. New Judicial Council Named -------------- ¶6. (U) Meanwhile, the Supreme Court named a new National Judicial Council on February 22. The council is the administrative and disciplinary body of the judicial branch. The council will be responsible for sending the list of candidates for the Attorney General to Congress. Also, the Judicial Council must fill 120 vacant positions in the judicial branch and resolve 130 pending complaints filed against judicial workers. Press reports that two of the new council members have strong ties to the PSC and one has ties to DP, while one is closely linked with the corrupt judicial union FENAJE. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) While the creation of a Constitutional Tribunal and naming of the council fills a void in the judiciary, and does so by means envisioned in the constitution, the resulting institutions are likely to become highly politicized, undermining their credibility. We therefore do not recommend any USG statement on this development (in contrast to the selection of the Supreme Court, which we publicly praised). There are ironies here, since the ad hoc approach to replacing the Supreme Court (not envisioned in the constitution) resulted in a more independent, and thus far more credible, institution. BROWN