Ciudad de Guatemala [email protected]

Corrupt Guatemalan High Court Grants Itself Immunity, Socialists in Tow

Guatemala, July 4, 2020.

We reject the provisional injunction the Constitutional Court (CC) granted itself on June 27 as procedurally and substantively illegal. The petitioners are not aggrieved parties and have no standing. Further, magistrates are prohibited from ruling on cases involving themselves.

On May 6—in violation of the separation of powers and the law—the CC ordered Congress to eliminate from consideration candidates for the Supreme Court and appeals courts who have complaints against them with the Prosecutor General (PG) Office. The CC also ordered Congress to hold a voice vote with each member explaining his vote. The CC illegally ordered the PG to provide to Congress confidential information from investigations.

A lawyer filed a criminal complaint against CC magistrates for the ruling. As the Constitution requires, the Supreme Court sent the complaint to Congress to decide the magistrates’ immunity. Congressional removal would subject them to criminal charges. The CC, with three magistrates named in the complaint illegally participating, ordered Congress to return the original complaint to the CC. This would effectively squash the complaint and grant the CC immunity from prosecution.

The CC magistrates claim the Constitution specifies they cannot be charged for opinions. The Constitution defines opinions, and this ruling does not fit the definition. The Constitution specifies magistrates are responsible for their rulings. The complaint, based on a ruling, is legal.

Congress filed a complaint with the PG against the magistrates for the illegal provisional injunction and violating the separation of powers. The CC filed a complaint with the PG against the Congressional president for noncompliance with their order to send the original complaint.

The CC original ruling and provisional injunction are illegal. The Constitution and law oblige the PG to act against the CC magistrates and dismiss their complaint against the Congress.

Since the US embassy intervened in magistrate appointments in 2016, the CC has issued illegal rulings favoring socialists. The CC and US embassy have become a judicial dictatorship with support from the United Nations and US Democrats. CC defenders are attempting to confuse the issues by citing international theories and involving the Organization of American States.

Our Constitution is clear. All government functionaries are responsible civilly and criminally for their actions in office. This is especially important for magistrates of the court of last resort.

This crisis is an internal Guatemalan matter without international-treaty issues. Socialists, led by the US ambassador, see control of the CC as critical to impose their ideology. Last year, the CC also illegally squashed a complaint against its magistrates. Then and now international socialists have supported their comrades through deception, propaganda and false arguments. Congress acquiesced.

We request all defenders of liberty to reject illegal intervention and support our efforts to establish the rule of law in our country.