On Friday, June 19, an analysis of the data related to the court election process was presented. This analysis was presented in the Webinar: Citizen analysis of the election of magistrates of the Judicial Branch.

In 2019, the three branches of government were to be renewed. However, the constitutional election of the judicial branch was suspended on different occasions. As of June 2020, 8 months of delay have passed. It was on October 13, 2019, that new magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the Court of Appeals (CA) were to be sworn in. As a result, the country's legal security has been weakened.

Several legal actions suspended the process of electing magistrates. Some point out that the entire process has been flawed. However, the last injunction that stopped the election of magistrates was from the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) due to the threat that Congress would elect candidates who did not meet the requirements of Article 113 of the Constitution. This stemmed from the Parallel Commissions 2020 case, presented by the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI) in February, expanded in April and May. FECI's investigation links Gustavo Alejos, former private secretary of the UNE and implicated in five corruption cases, with different people related to the election of the high courts, as the MP infers attempts to interfere in the election of CSJ and CA magistrates.

Here is the route traced by the Constitutional Court to continue with the election of magistrates:

Analysis of data related to those mentioned by FECI in the court election

According to FECI's press conferences, around 40 people visited Gustavo Alejos. Of these, 11 were aspiring magistrates and 9 of them are currently on final lists.

In FECI's three press conferences, the number of individuals mentioned as being related to the election of magistrates has changed. Some were mentioned as visitors and others as having had telephone contact (messages) with Alejos.

24 aspiring magistrates were mentioned in the press conferences:

• 11 mentioned as visitors, 9 of whom are on a final list.
• 14 mentioned as having had telephone contact, 10 of whom are on a final list.
• 3 mentioned indirectly because a family member had contact with Alejos (these are not included in the percentage analysis of the final lists).
• In addition, 2 commissioners are mentioned.

A problem of independence

FECI's investigation reflects a low percentage of candidates who have an independence problem. At MCN, we have promoted judicial independence, as we did when we presented the proposal on how to evaluate future candidates. In short, an ideal magistrate is one who is independent and demonstrates it with their actions.

At the stage when the postulacion commissions received applications

2.04% of the applications received by the CA postulacion commission were from aspirants who were later mentioned in FECI's press conferences. In the case of applications received by the CSJ postulacion commission, the figure rises to 5.96%.

Acceptable evaluation by the Judicial Career Council.

Of the mentioned candidates, 15 were evaluated by the Judicial Career Council. Of these, 11 are part of a final list. This data is crucial because the evaluation of the Judicial Career Council was one of the reasons why the process of electing magistrates was suspended in September 2019.

What was the percentage of mentioned "eligible" for the court election?

12 of the 127 aspirants during the votes to form the final list of the CSJ were mentioned by FECI in relation to the Parallel Commissions 2020 case.

19 of the 554 aspirants during the votes to form the final list of the CA were mentioned.

Final Lists

15.38% of the final CSJ list and 2.96% of the final CA list were mentioned as having visited Alejos. On the other hand, 11.54% of the final CSJ list and 3.70% of the final CA list were mentioned as having had alleged telephone contact with Alejos.

The final lists submitted to Congress contain several candidates whose candidacies are questionable. Their appearance of independence has been damaged. On the final CSJ list, there are 5 mentioned, while on the final CA list, there are 15 mentioned.

In addition, the report presented by the MP to Congress also includes a section on ongoing investigations by FECI. It lists aspirants mentioned in the press conferences about the Parallel Commissions 2020 case, as well as other candidates not mentioned in the conferences.

The process of electing one of the branches of government has not had legal certainty, creating a climate of uncertainty. Now the future of justice is in the hands of the Congress of the Republic to ensure a transparent election, as it was announced that the election of CSJ and CA magistrates would begin on Tuesday, June 23.