Supreme Court of Argentina
The
Supreme Court of Argentina (in
Spanish,
Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación) is the highest
court of
law of the
Argentine Republic. It was inaugurated on
15 January 1863.
The Supreme Court functions as a last resort tribunal. Its rulings cannot be appealed. It also decides on cases dealing with the interpretation of the
constitution (for example, it can overturn a law passed by
Congress if it deems it unconstitutional).
The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the
President and can only be removed by an
impeachment process called
juicio político ("political trial"), carried out by the
Senate, exclusively on grounds of improper behaviour.
The current composition of the Supreme Court is as follows:
*
President: Dr. Enrique Santiago Petracchi.
*
Vice-President: Dra. Elena I. Highton de Nolasco.
*
Justices: Dr. Carlos S. Fayt, Dr. Juan Carlos Maqueda, Dr.
Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni, Dr. Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti, Dr. Carmen María Argibay.
|
Main building of the Supreme Court |
Argentina's highest court was expanded from five to nine members by
President Carlos Menem, who chose the four new justices. During the
1990s, the Court was heavily criticized because it showed lack of independence from the Executive Branch in certain cases; several of its justices were accused of forming an "automatic majority", who consistently agreed on votes having to do with interests of the administration.
In the
2000s, since the
interim presidency of
Eduardo Duhalde and especially during the term of
Néstor Kirchner started in
2003, all members of this "majority" have either been removed or resigned. Dr. Antonio Boggiano, the last of these, was removed on
29 September 2005. Not all justices have been replaced, so there are still two vacancies.
Since
19 June 2003, by presidential decree, candidates for a seat in the Supreme Court must be presented by the Executive Branch for consideration. The curriculum of the nominee (or nominees) must be made public and advertised on the
website of the Ministry of Justice, and can be discussed in the media and elsewhere by
NGOs, professional law associations, academic and
human rights groups, and all citizens in general. After three months, the President, with this advice, can then choose to present the nominee to the
Argentine Senate, which must decide on the nomination, needing at least a two-thirds majority for a positive vote.
The renewal of the Supreme Court in the first years of the Kirchner administration was advertised and is usually acknowledged as a positive step, bringing more independence to the Judicial Branch and addressing issues of ideological bias. Until mid-
2004 all justices were male, most were devout
Catholics, and they were considered
conservative. In contrast, the two most recently appointed justices (Elena Highton and Carmen Argibay) are female; Argibay is a self-professed
feminist, a militant
atheist, and supports the legalization of
abortion. Eugenio Zaffaroni (the first to be designated through the public nomination method) is viewed as a politically center-left-wing guarantist Justice.
*
Official website of the Argentine Supreme Court.
*
Ministry of Justice.
* On the newer justices:
**
Argentine President's First 100 Days Break From 30 Years of Business-As-Usual - The renewal process sponsored by the Kirchner administration.
** Eugenio Zaffaroni:
***
Drug Policy Reformer Nominated to Supreme Court in Argentina - The Narco News Bulletin (against the Drug War), 2 July 2003.
** Elena Highton:
***
Argentina gets first female Chief Justice - NDTV.com, 29 June 2004.
***
The new Supreme Court member - Buenos Aires Herald.
** Carmen Argibay:
***
ARGENTINA: Single Woman, Atheist, Heads to Seat on High Court - Inter Press Service News, 21 January 2005. Comments and interview.
***
Female Atheist to Head Argentina's High Court? - About.com, 23 January 2004.
***
Argentine President Proposes Self-Described "Militant Atheist" for Supreme Court - LifeSiteNews.com, 10 February 2004.
