Hernán Rivas electronically signed 31 resolutions of Paraguay’s Magistrates’ Disciplinary Tribunal (Jurado de Enjuiciamiento de Magistrados, JEM) after leaving the body in October 2023; 15 were signed after his replacement, Derlis Maidana, had taken office. The decisions, however, had been voted on before Rivas left: the difference lies in when the signatures were recorded, not in his participation in the sessions.
The Senate accepted Rivas’s leave of absence on October 25, 2023, and appointed Maidana to the vacancy; Maidana took office at the JEM on October 31. Rivas signed 16 resolutions on October 26, two on November 8 and another 13 on December 20. The interval between a decision and the collection of all signatures could stretch to months, and the records indicate that resolutions were numbered before that process was complete.
One of the decisions signed later, Resolution 142/2023, dismissed records in cases related to Ramón González Daher, who was prosecuted for money laundering, on October 10. The document was opened for signatures on October 27. Rivas was the last to sign, on December 20, after the other six signatories, who signed between November 2 and 15.
Also on December 20, Rivas was the first to sign interlocutory order No. 85/2023, which rejected a complaint against appellate judge Neri Villalba. The decision dated from June 27; the document did not receive its final signature until March 8, 2024. No published rule clarifies the procedure when a member leaves office before signing a resolution.
The debate over the signatures adds to scrutiny of Rivas’s positions in disciplinary cases. Between 2020 and 2023, he voted to dismiss accusations against Ciudad del Este judge Marino Méndez in cases that included rulings on the resignation of then-mayor Sandra McLeod and restrictions on journalistic publications. Rivas was in the minority, but because the five votes needed to open proceedings were not secured, the complaints were dismissed.
In September 2021, Rivas also proposed dismissing accusations against Villa Hayes judge Carlos Alberto Lezcano over rulings that released shipments of iron seized in customs inspections; the full tribunal unanimously approved the proposal. In the case of prosecutor Gladys Estela González Falcón, sister of Óscar González Daher, Rivas first voted for her removal and later supported a warning, a milder sanction. A tally cited in the reporting counts 42 cases against judges dismissed with his vote.
The JEM is Paraguay’s body responsible for judging magistrates and can impose sanctions, including removal from office. Since June, the institution has been assessing possible effects of Rivas’s conviction on decisions in which he took part; Senator Mario Varela said the body is waiting for the sentence to become final before taking action.