Within the framework of the lawsuit for
damages that
Ricardo Lorenzetti's right-hand man
, Héctor Marchi,
had initiated against
Elisa Carrió
when she was a deputy,
the Supreme Court
of Justice ruled
in favor of the leader of the Civic Coalition
and ratified that in her As a legislator, she could not be “accused, judicially questioned, or harassed for the opinions or speeches” she issued.
Carrió had denounced the Court judge and his right-hand man in 2016 for
alleged illicit enrichment
, but Justice dismissed the defendants.
Lorenzetti's right-hand man then filed a
civil lawsuit against the then-deputy
and the other complainant, also then-legislator Fernando Sánchez.
The lawsuit escalated to the
Civil Chamber,
which agreed
with Marchi
in 2018 by alleging that the
immunity
that the deputies had
did not apply to the false accusation
that they had made against him.
Héctor Marchi, former general administrator of the Supreme Court of Justice who sued Elisa Carrió.
Carrió's reaction was to file an
extraordinary appeal before the Supreme Court
, which this Thursday ruled in
favor
of the leaders of the Civic Coalition.
The arguments of the Supreme Court in favor of Elisa Carrió
The highest court
revoked the House's ruling
and recalled that the constitutional norm establishes that none of the members of Congress can be accused, judicially questioned, or bothered by the opinions or speeches they issue while carrying out their mandate as legislator and that it has always been maintained
the absolute nature of said immunity.
He pointed out that the possibility that a member of Congress could be subjected to a process, so that his
opinions or
legislative votes and the motives that determined them could be investigated or judicially interpreted,
contradicts the idea that
the members had about the division of powers.
authors of the Constitution.
In that sense, they stated that it is
preferable to adopt a broad criterion when
freedom of expression and parliamentary immunities
are at stake ,
because in this way the powers of control of the Legislative Branch over the remaining institutions are not affected.
Finally, the Court recalled the privileged place accorded to freedom of expression and opinion compared to the attenuated standard of protection - in the face of issues of public or general interest - when
the passive subject
or recipient of the criticism and opinions
is a public person.
as happened in the case of Marchi.
Supreme Court judges Ricardo Lorenzetti, Juan Maqueda, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rosatti.
Photo Federico López Claro
The ruling is signed by judges Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Juan Carlos Maqueda.
Ricardo Lorenzetti, on the other hand, did not sign: Carrió had challenged him
due to his relationship with the plaintiff, who managed the judicial budget when the judge presided over the court.
D.S.