The legal reform that blocked the appointments of a CGPJ without renewal meant the interference of the Legislative Branch in what the Constitution attributes exclusively to the Judicial Branch and, therefore, had to be annulled.
This is what four judges of the Constitutional Court maintain in the dissenting vote against the ruling that, with seven votes from the progressive bloc, endorsed this reform.
“This limitation that now prevents the General Council of the Judiciary “Making certain appointments when he is in office is incompatible with the postulates that derive from the principle of separation of powers inherent to the rule of law,” the magistrates affirm. Ricardo Enriquez, Enrique Arnaldo, Concepci贸n Espejel y Cesar Tolosa.
The magistrates, belonging to the conservative sector of the TC, consider that the law has meant “a denaturalization” of the governing body of the Judiciary when it is in office, “by depriving it of the essential powers attributed to the fulfillment of its constitutional task, and therefore affect the principles of judicial independence and separation of powers”.
“The independence of the Council with respect to the Legislative and Executive Branches has been weakened,” they continue, “thus contributing to a weakening of the independence of the Judicial Branch as a whole.”