The Colorado Party (Cartista) bloc in the Chamber of Deputies postponed until mid-July the consideration of the bill known as "Anti Hernán Rivas," which establishes degree and experience requirements for serving on the Jury for the Prosecution of Judges (JEM). The deferral, approved at Tuesday's session (16th), coincidentally or not, opens space for the ruling party to choose new representatives for the body in early July — precisely when the term of the current members appointed by the Chamber expires on the 10th: Cartista members Alejandro Aguilera and Diego Candia, who took office after Orlando Arévalo's resignation.
The initiative, authored by Deputy Rocío Vallejo (Partido Patria Querida), seeks to require, in addition to the presentation of a university degree, proof of at least ten years of effective legal practice for anyone wishing to serve on the JEM. The bill emerged in the wake of scandals involving allegedly unqualified lawyers — such as former Senator Hernán David Rivas and former Deputy Orlando Arévalo — who reached the body amid questions about the legitimacy of their professional credentials. Arévalo, in fact, went on to chair the JEM while under accusation of holding a fraudulent degree from Leonardo Da Vinci University and faces criminal charges for alleged bribery and influence peddling, based on conversations extracted from the cell phone of the late Deputy Eulalio "Lalo" Gomes.
"This resistance to approving the requirements for serving on the JEM is truly dramatic. I don't know if it's some problem to benefit those who are there now or those who plan to enter in this new period, if they have some issue with their degree, because here a degree is required and some kind of track record is also required. I can't just graduate and go play at being a judge of judges and prosecutors," Vallejo stated. The parliamentarian emphasized that the JEM has direct power to remove judges, which would make the qualification requirements even stricter than those applied to the Council of the Magistracy.
The First Vice President of the Chamber, allied Cartista Deputy Hugo Meza (ANR), denied that the delay aims to maintain a permeable system and signaled that Aguilera and Candia could be reelected, "unless there is a cross-party agreement." According to him, negotiations between the majority blocs are "quite advanced" and the tendency would be to maintain the status quo. Vallejo's proposal, however, provides for a reduction of the term to two and a half years and a ban on reelection.
When asked about the advisability of demonstrating plurality in the composition of the JEM, Meza responded in a joking tone: "It could be, that might happen within 'Concordia Colorada' and list 1," referring to the remote possibility of an agreement with dissident Colorados.