The application of Judge
Ariel Lijo
to occupy one of the vacant positions in the Supreme Court added new rejection. It was the Forum for Studies on the Administration of Justice (FORES), which spoke out this Thursday against it, with a particularly critical tone, maintaining that the magistrate
arouses “too many controversies
” in his career in the courts and
highlighting the role of his brother
, defined as,
“judicial operator”
.
FORES, a civil association dedicated to strengthening justice through investigation, technical assistance and training,
requested that the Government desist from the designation. The entity
had already added its rejection in a statement released by the Network of Entities for Independent Justice of Argentina (REJIA).
AmCham, IDEA and the Argentine Political Club
spoke in the same sense .
In a harsh text where they explicitly expressed their rejection of Lijo's nomination - but not that of Manuel García-Mansilla - they maintained about the first that
"there are too many controversies aroused by the candidate, who is a member of the questioned Criminal and Correctional jurisdiction." Federal".
“These courts often arouse
too many suspicions about their management of the times and fate of the cases
in which they investigate the scourge of public corruption,” they added.
They recalled that the media “tend to explain with a naturalness that should shock us
how the judges' criteria change depending on how the electoral winds blow
.”
In that sense, they argued that “the
very low rate of convictions
that this jurisdiction is capable of showing (in 2017 it was 1.3% of the concluded cases) has its origin, to a large extent, in the investigation stage that they carry out.” federal trial judges like Dr. Lijo, who has held that position for almost two decades.”
On the other hand, they highlighted the "multiple accusations - coming from different areas" that weigh on Lijo's actions and also referred to his brother,
Alfredo "Freddy" Lijo
, whom they maintained plays a role as a
"judicial operator."
According to FORES, the above
"distances Dr. Lijo from the model of judge to which any citizen aspires regardless of their ideological preferences to fill a vacancy in the highest court of the Nation."
Javier Milei appointed Ariel Lijo to fill one of the vacant positions in the Supreme Court.
FORES suggested that the Government tries to "use the judiciary for political purposes"
Meanwhile, the organization suggested that there is a lackadaisical attitude on the part of the authorities to nominate future members of the Supreme Court. However, he highlighted the career of the other appointee, Judge Manuel García-Mansilla.
“What seems like
a lack of seriousness in taking serious care of defining the profile that any judge should have
, and mere lightness in analyzing their background during the appointment processes, allows us to suspect that the political leadership insists on the
attempt to use the judiciary for political purposes
” , they proposed.
They analyzed that if the Government “fully adjusted its task to the Constitution, qualified and honest jurists would have nothing to fear.” In that sense, they highlighted that García-Mansilla's nomination "is proof of this."
They also considered that the Supreme Court must be
“made up of judges who are not only technically suitable, but also exemplary.”
As an argument, they recalled that the Confidence in Justice Index, which was prepared last November by FORES and the Torcuato di Tella University, revealed that 88% of the population considers that Justice is “little or not at all reliable in terms of treating everyone.” equally without regard to economic means, contacts or political affiliation”
FORES questioned the appointment of Ariel Lijo to the Supreme Court in a harsh statement. Photo Luciano Thieberger
“It is not about denying the political origin of the appointment, nor about preventing a president from proposing someone similar to his ideological postulates,”
they clarified, while they stated that “it is about the candidate, in addition to legal solvency, reassuring to a tense society and guarantee that they will have a judge, not a political leader, to resolve the cases that come to their attention.”
The entity also rejected the fact that a woman has not been appointed to occupy a place on the highest court. “In the case of this vacancy,
it would also be advisable for the court to be integrated with a woman
. The application of Dr. Ariel Lijo to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Highton is not even close to that aspiration,” they expressed.
Finally, in a message addressed to Javier Milei, they highlighted that statesmen “are distinguished, among other things, by the ability to recognize errors and rectify them.”
“The Government has a golden opportunity to demonstrate that it has told the truth when it announced its intention to differentiate itself from the political culture that has led Argentina to the current situation.
“It is appropriate that you desist from Dr. Lijo's application
,” they concluded.