PRESS RELEASE 012
SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE ORDERS COURT TO ACCEPT RECUSAL FILED AGAINST JUDGE CARLOS AGUILAR
Guatemala, February 19, 2013. The Chamber of Amparo and Immunities of the Supreme Court of Justice deemed that the Second Chamber of the Court of Criminal Appeals "exceeded the powers conferred upon it by the law and flagrantly breached the constitutional right to defense and due process of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala". Therefore, the Chamber of Amparo issued a final decision accepting the amparo application filed by CICIG against the Second Chamber.
The judges of the Chamber of Amparo and Immunities ordered the Second Chamber to issue a new ruling confirming the admissibility of the recusal filed against Carlos Aguilar, judge of the Second Chamber of the First Criminal Instance. This would lead to Judge Aguilar standing down from hearing a case against two Colombians where CICIG acts as a complementary prosecutor in the case.
The SCJ ruling responds to an amparo application filed by the Commission regarding a decision issued by the aforementioned Chamber, which declared the inadmissibility of the challenge against Judge Carlos Aguilar. The latter had previously showed signs of clear enmity with Commissioner Francisco Javier Dall'Anese Ruiz. Aguilar had rejected the recusal filed against him.
Yesterday, notice of the decision made by judges of the Chamber of Amparo and Immunities was given to CICIG. The decision sets forth the following in Recital III: "The analysis conducted demonstrated that, through the decision issued, the Chamber exceeded the powers conferred upon it by the law and flagrantly breached the constitutional right to defense and due process of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. [...] The Chamber orders the authority in question to rule in accordance with the law, in respect for the rights and guarantees of the amparo applicant (CICIG), and warns that a five-hundred quetzal fine will be awarded to any judge who fails to comply within five days of receiving the background facts of the case, notwithstanding the legal liabilities they may incur."
The Commission, pursuant to its mandate, has the authority to "promote criminal prosecutions by filing criminal complaints with the relevant authorities. The Commission may also, in accordance with this Agreement and the Code of Criminal Procedure, join a criminal proceeding as a private prosecutor (querellante adhesivo) with respect to all cases within its jurisdiction". (Article 3, paragraph b, of the Agreement).
Background
The Colombians Jhon Alexander Cardona Salinas and Luis Alberto Valencia Duque are accused of forming part of a corruption ring in the General Directorate of Migration. They were arrested at the La Aurora International Airport (Guatemala City) on October 10, 2011, after presenting false Guatemalan passports that had been issued by state officials. The pair were assigned to the General Directorate of Migration and presumably form part of a corruption ring.
The criminal proceedings against the accused were remitted to the Second Court of the First Criminal Instance, which is under the responsibility of Judge Carlos Aguilar. The two accused parties were linked to proceedings on charges of self-concealment and the use of forged documents. The pre-trial hearing to open oral arguments is pending after being postponed due to the recusal filed against Aguilar.