ASSEMBLY FAILS TO ELECT SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000623

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ES PGOV PREL KJUS
SUBJECT: ASSEMBLY FAILS TO ELECT SUPREME COURT JUSTICES


1. Summary: The Salvadoran Legislative Assembly failed to
elect Supreme Court Justices by the June 30 deadline mandated
by law. Every three years, the Legislative Assembly is
required to elect (or re-elect) five of the 15 Supreme Court
justices and some alternate justices. While the full
implications of the Assembly's failure to act are unclear,
the impasse could lead to an institutional crisis and bring
the Salvadoran judicial system to a standstill. End Summary.


2. Every three years, the Legislative Assembly must elect
(or re-elect) five of the 15 justices of the Supreme Court
from a list of 30 names provided by the National Judiciary
Council (CNJ) and the National Association of Lawyers. A
total of nine names must be selected from the list: four
justices for the Constitutional Chamber of the Court, one
justice for the Civil Chamber, and four alternates. The
justices must be elected by a two-thirds majority, thus
requiring the two major parties, (conservative) ARENA and the
(ruling, left-wing) FMLN, to be in agreement.


3. On May 13, a challenge was filed with the Constitutional
Chamber of the Supreme Court contesting three of the names
submitted by the CNJ. The complaint alleged that three of
the names, David Gonzolo Cabezas, Efrain Campos, and Nora
Montoya, were unethical, since those individuals were members
of the CNJ and their "self-nominations" violated the spirit,
if not the letter, of the law. The Court asked the
Legislative Assembly to stop the election until it could
consider the complaint. On June 30, those individuals
withdrew their names from consideration. However, the
election deadline has passed, so there is currently no
judicial authority in place to lift the injunction and
legally resume the election.


4. The Legislative Assembly was scheduled to vote at 4 PM on
June 30; however, party leaders continued to negotiate
several hours beyond this scheduled vote. Despite the delays,
FMLN deputies told us that they were optimistic and confident
that the election would occur before midnight. Once it became
clear that negotiations were deadlocked, FMLN deputies were
worried, but calm.


5. Through the course of the evening of June 30, most
Assembly deputies waited in their offices, eager to meet the
deadline. As the impasse became clear, the deputies moved to
repeal a law that would have automatically renewed the
mandates of the incumbent judges for an additional nine
years. Clearly, the Assembly deputies preferred to leave the
seats vacant, rather than have the seats filled by the
incumbents. (Note: The Constitution does not offer legal
avenues to temporarily extend the incumbents, mandates for a
period of time shorter than nine years.)

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MOVING FORWARD
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6. A possible course of action has emerged in response to
the crisis. First, vacancies in the Supreme Court will likely
be temporarily filled by judges from the three other
chambers. Those judges will have to lift the injunction
issued by the Supreme Court that has prevented the Assembly
from voting on justices. After that, the election of the
justices by the Assembly can legally resume. There is no new
formal deadline for a resolution.


7. Comment: Even though the Supreme Court impasse is
potentially problematic, it appears to have done little more
than generate confusion thus far. However, that could change
if this situation drags on for more than a week or two, as
the centralized and top-heavy Salvadoran judicial system will
slowly grind to a halt. While conspiracy theories abound as
to ARENA's and the FMLN's ulterior motives in failing to
appoint magistrates to the Court on time, the truth seems to
be that the CNJ's initial move to nominate its own officers
has led to a Keystone Cops-style comedy of errors and
missteps resulting in the current impasse. Whatever the
cause, it is risky for El Salvador to be without a
functioning Supreme Court and we will continue to urge
Assembly Deputies to resolve this impasse. A similar impasse
has prevented the naming of a new Attorney General, although
in that case the acting AG has been able to serve in a
caretaker capacity. End Comment.
BLAU