The Institute of Comparative Studies in Penal and Social Sciences (INECIP) challenged this thursday application presented by Javier Milei for Ariel Lijo and Manuel García-Mansilla to join the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Regarding Lijo, they assured that “he is statistically the most ineffective judge of all Comodoro Py”, among other harsh considerations, and regarding García-Mansilla they highlighted that “his positions could affect the international responsibility of the State” in terms of diversity and plurality.
“The national government wants to appoint to the Supreme Court Ariel Lijo, the judge with the worst performance in all of Comodoro Py and with serious complaints against him. If the Senate approves it, Lijo will be on the Court until 2043. The national government’s nominations fail, for different reasons, to meet the requirements to join the Supreme Court,” INECIP noted. “A quality democracy requires quality justice,” he postulated and listed the requirements: “Suitability, integrity, independence, commitment to human rights and diversity.”
“The national government’s proposals do not satisfy these demands,” stated the Argentine foundation. Regarding Ariel Lijo, it was highlighted that “If his only merit to join the Court is his judicial career, his candidacy is unacceptable, since he is statistically the most ineffective judge in all of Comodoro Py., a jurisdiction already noted for its poor functioning.” “There is data on the systematics delays in the resolution of high-impact court cases and, in particular, corruption cases”, they detailed about their performance.
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Lijo “has criminal and poor performance complaints against him that are inappropriate for a candidate for the Court”
“Whether due to inefficiency or, as some complaints from the Judicial Council point out, due to political use of judicial time, These systematic delays in serious cases are unacceptable for a candidate for the highest court“, INECIP stated and denounced: “Court No. 4, headed by Ariel Lijo, It is the one that had the most files lasting 6 or more years in corruption cases”. The one proposed by President Javier Milei is the judge with the longest delays in corruption cases in all of Comodoro Py, according to this report.
Likewise, he warned that Lijo “has criminal and poor performance complaints against him that are inappropriate for a candidate for the Supreme Court, who should be free of any suspicion”. “There is no record in the recent democratic history of our country of judges who have been appointed to the Supreme Court of Justice with such a volume of previous complaints against them,” he questioned and lamented: “The Executive Branch should suspend the sending of the Lijo document until the resolution of its pending cases in the Council; and not, as unfortunately it seems that is going to happen, suspend the investigation of these complaints until his appointment is decided.”
On the other hand, the challenge revealed that Lijo “does not have other professional or academic background that would make him worthy of reaching the Court.” “Ariel Lijo graduated from the Law School at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires in 1993. After graduating, between 1999 and 2000 he completed a Specialization in Administration of Justice taught by the Institute Higher Studies for Justice in agreement with the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. He did not obtain master’s or doctoral degrees, and in the last 24 years he did not conduct any other studies”he reported.
Finally, INECIP pointed out that the aforementioned judge “He has publicly expressed himself against the constitutional model of criminal trial”. “Lijo has not only shown deficiencies” in terms of quality justice in his professional performance, they argue, “but also in his public criticism regarding the adversarial system ordered by our National Constitution, ignoring the consolidated jurisprudence of the Supreme Court . The National Government itself that promotes the implementation of this model in federal justice proposes a candidate who relativizes its importance”, he warned.
Who is Ariel Lijo, the “pure judicial” who prosecuted Boudou and was chosen by Milei for the Supreme Court
The challenge to García-Mansilla’s candidacy
About Manuel García-Mansillathe Institute of Comparative Studies in Penal and Social Sciences addressed a presentation to the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, in which it highlights that ““its positions on the hierarchy of international human rights treaties and on sexual and reproductive rights could affect the international responsibility of the State.”.
“García-Mansilla has shown legal positions that are incompatible with that block of constitutionality that, if reflected in the jurisprudence of the Court, could entail the international responsibility of the National State. We refer, in particular, to its position on the hierarchy of international human rights treaties and abortion”, considered INECIP.
Regarding this judge, they recalled that he has declared that “the only interpretation compatible with the National Constitution is to affirm that treaties with constitutional hierarchy Not only are they not part of the Constitution, but they are not as valid as it.. They are on a lower step than the Constitution, although above the rest of the Argentine legal system.”
García-Mansilla “opposes the existence of a right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy even in cases of rape”
“García-Mansilla has repeatedly expressed positions contrary to the full enjoyment of reproductive and sexual rights of pregnant people. His appointment to the Supreme Court puts the recognition of those rights at risk,” the challenge alleged and elaborated: “The candidate opposes the existence of a right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy even in cases of rape”. This, if designated, “would make both the government and the Senate of the Nation responsible for the eventual international responsibility of the National State.”
The last point of the document considers both García-Mansilla and Lijo and highlights that, in the event that “they are appointed, the Supreme Court would lack diversity and plurality necessary in a democratic society. Regarding this, they clarify that “within the different dimensions that this plurality implies, one of the clearest is the gender diversity, a legally binding obligation for the Argentine State.” “A diverse and plural Court is not only reduced to the plurality of genders, but also implies the representation of other groups or social sectors historically and systematically excluded”, he indicated.
“The appointment of García-Mansilla would consolidate the lack of plurality that the current integration of the Court already presents. If it were confirmed, in parallel, that García-Mansilla will be accompanied by Ariel Lijo (the other candidate of the Executive Branch), this problem would deepen even more,” INECIP insisted and highlighted criteria such as gender, federalism, professional trajectories and independence from other de facto powers, as business groups. The challenge concludes that with the proposed integration of the Court, the possibility of reversing the structural problems of Justice “would be hindered and, probably, new difficulties would arise.”
ML / ED