Judicial Institutions' Family Feuds

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003277 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KJUS SOCI KWMN PGOV CO SUBJECT: Judicial Institutions' Family Feuds Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Colombia's dizzying array of judicial institutions has always made understanding and navigating its judicial system complicated and time-consuming. Moreover, recent turf battles have frozen the implementation of some policies and threaten to plunge the judicial system into crisis. Inspector General Alejandro Ordonez touched off a national debate on abortion with his October 21 declaration that he would seek to nullify the Constitutional Court's decision ordering the GOC to make students aware of the specific circumstances when abortion is legal. On October 28, the Superior Judicial Council annulled the jail sentence imposed by the Supreme Court on a congresswoman who used an Air Force plane for her electoral campaign. The Supreme Court said it might refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC). End Summary. Equal & Overlapping -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Under the Constitution, Colombia has four equally ranked courts that make up the judicial branch: the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the State Council, and the Superior Judicial Council. Further complicating matters are the offices of the Prosecutor General, the Inspector General and the Human Rights Ombudsman. While battles between the three branches of government are common (e.g., Supreme Court blocking President Uribe's nominations for Attorney General),recent internal turf battles have brought the judiciary's problems into the media spotlight and stymied the implementation of policies and sentences. IG Reignites Abortion Debate -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In May 2009, the Constitutional Court ordered the Ministries of Education and Social Protection to implement a national information campaign to make students aware of women's reproductive rights generally and the specific circumstances when abortion is legal. Inspector General Alejandro Ordonez touched off a national debate on abortion rights with his October 21 declaration that he would seek to nullify the Court's decision. The Ombudsman, Mayor of Bogota and Minister of Education said they would implement the Court's order. ¶4. (SBU) Before becoming Inspector General, Ordonez vehemently opposed the 2006 Constitutional Court decision allowing abortion in the cases of rape, when the fetus is seriously deformed or when the mother's life is at risk due to the pregnancy. In September, Ordonez successfully scuttled the Mayor of Medellin's plans to offer abortion services at a new integral women's health clinic. Some hospitals and doctors still refuse to perform the legal abortions due to objections of conscience, and some judges have blocked the full implementation of the ruling. Ordonez argues that abortion is still a crime (punished by one to three years imprisonment) with specific exceptions, and not a right. He maintains that the Court has no authority to promote a criminal act or determine implementing regulations related to objections of conscience. ¶5. (SBU) The State Council, the highest administrative court, joined the fray on October 22 by suspending the GOC's implementing regulations of the 2006 partial decriminalization of abortion. The State Council ruled that the Congress, and not the Executive, must enact any implementing regulations. Abortions remain legal in the three aforementioned circumstances even without the regulations, as Constitutional Court President Nelson Pinilla told the press. However, this void in regulations creates legal uncertainty for health institutions. Superior Judicial Council Overturns Supreme Court -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On October 26, the Superior Judicial Council's Disciplinary Court (in charge of investigating judicial officials' conduct) annulled the Supreme Court's sentencing of Congresswoman Sandra Arabella Velasquez to 74 months imprisonment for having used an Air Force plane during her 2006 election campaign. Supreme Court President Augusto Ibanez criticized the annulment, saying that the "congressionally-elected" Disciplinary Court "ultimately seeks impunity for those allied with paramilitary groups," and is considering referring the matter to an international body like the ICC. Angelino Lizcano, one of the Disciplinary Court magistrates who voted in favor of the annulment, is a known friend of the congresswoman but refused to abstain from the proceedings because they "do not have an intimate friendship." ¶7. (SBU) The President of the Superior Judicial Council, Maria Mercedes Lopez, abstained from the vote on the congresswoman, saying that ruling on a penal matter "is going beyond our limits." According to press reports, this is the first time someone convicted by the Supreme Court (the highest penal authority in the land) was absolved by another court because the other court determined that no crime had occurred. The Constitutional Court may rule on the matter of the Superior Judicial Council's jurisdiction in this and other cases. Some analysts believe the Superior Judicial Council should cease to exist. BROWNFIELD