Venezuela’s government-controlled National Assembly on Tuesday appointed the justices who’ll comprise a new slimmed down Supreme Court, many of them holdovers from the previous court, in a nod to overhauling a judicial system that’s long been criticized for its lack of independence.
By Bloomberg – Andreina Itriago Acosta and Nicolle Yapur
Apr 26, 2022
The assembly chose 20 magistrates in all, 12 of whom were re-appointed to the court, known as the TSJ, according to Caracas-based nonprofit Justice Access, but only two are aligned with opposition groups.
The appointments follow changes made to the law governing the Supreme Court by the assembly two years after President Nicolás Maduro pledged reforms to address international concern over the judicial system’s lack independence.
The assembly’s vote “shows that the government does not trust new faces in the judiciary and prefers to run the risk of maintaining the institutionality that previously existed,” Ali Daniels, director of Caracas-based Justice Access, said. “It is not true that there is a new TSJ, it’s essentially the same TSJ.”
A United Nations fact-finding mission last month highlighted the judiciary’s lack of impartiality and warned that recent reforms increase political interference in the judiciary.
In January, the government reduced the number of Supreme Court justices to 20 from 32 as part of a law that also changed the way they are chosen and allowed for re-election. The new justices were chose from a list of 254 candidates.
Reforming the court was a top item in talks between the opposition and government last year in México. Those talks were halted, however, in October.
The U.S.-recognized opposition, lead by Juan Guaido, in a statement after the assembly’s vote said, “this is the most recent sign of the absence of democracy in our country,” calling the goverment’s reform process a “mirage.”
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