President and Congress Thwart Judicial Independence
(Washington D.C., December 17, 2004) The Ecuadorian Congress has
violated the principle of judicial independence by purging nearly all of the
Supreme Court justices, Human Rights Watch said today. In a special
session called by President Lucio Gutiérrez last week, 52 members of the
100-seat Congress voted to replace 27 of the 31 justices with their own
political allies.
“Judicial independence is an essential ingredient of a functioning
democracy,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the
Americas Division at Human Rights Watch. “The fact that President
Gutiérrez and his congressional allies could purge the Supreme Court
clearly shows that it is a missing ingredient in Ecuador today.”
Ecuador is party to human rights treaties that require it to safeguard the
independence of its judiciary—including the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights.
The principle of judicial independence is also a central feature of the Inter-
American Democratic Charter, which the foreign ministers of Ecuador and
33 other members of the Organization of American States adopted in 2001.
The Charter defines the “[e]ssential elements of representative
democracy” to include “access to and the exercise of power in accordance
with the rule of law” and “the separation of powers and independence of
the branches of government.”
The 1998 Ecuadorian Constitution also establishes the principle judicial
independence and separation of powers. It specifically establishes that
vacancies on the Supreme Court should be filled by the Court itself.
Unlike the country’s previous constitution, it does not grant Congress
authority to impeach justices.
President Gutiérrez, who was elected in 2002, claimed that the court was
loyal to his political opponents, who recently tried and failed to hold
impeachment hearings against him. The replacement justices were
selected from the political parties that successfully opposed the president’s
impeachment.
The overhaul of the Supreme Court is one in a series of measures that have
consolidated control over the justice system in the hands of the president
and his allies. Last month, Congress also replaced the majority of judges
on the country’s Electoral Court and Constitutional Court.
President Gutiérrez has stated that the new Supreme Court will be a
temporary arrangement until a constitutional amendment is proposed next
year that will transform the judiciary.
“Rather than seeking to control of the Supreme Court, the president and
Congress should be taking immediate steps to strengthen its
independence,” Vivanco said.
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Source: www.humanrightswatch.org
