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
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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