Congress elects new Supreme Court judges

The Honduran Congress elected on Thursday the 15 new magistrates who will make up the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice for the next seven years, until 2030, after extensive negotiations between the different political forces of the country.

The Libertad y Refoundación (Libre) Party of the president, Xiomara Castro, wanted to have eight of the 15 judges and hold the majority in the Judiciary, which was not accepted by the other forces, especially by the National Party, the main of the opposition

The lobbying began on January 25, when Congress opened the 2023-2024 session stage and a list of 45 candidates was presented. The election had a deadline of February 11, when the mandate of the outgoing magistrates ended, who had to remain in office until Thursday.

In the end, Libre managed to place six magistrates, the National Party five, and another four were nominated by the Liberal Party, the third largest party in the Honduran parliament.

The list of 15 candidates was put to the vote and was supported by 117 of the 128 deputies.

The Honduran Constitution establishes that the plenary session of the Court is a second degree election carried out within the legislative branch, therefore “the election process is also political,” he told Associated Press Oliver Erazo, lawyer and analyst.

“Logically, the consensus in Honduras does not go through the interests of Honduran society, but rather the interests of the political class,” added Erazo, who pointed out that the new judges “must demonstrate how democratic they are once in office and that both have the supremacy of the Constitution and the separation of powers rooted in their DNA.”

“The issue is that the parties chose the candidates based on the margin of confidence in terms of the projects they can face in the Supreme Court of Justice,” sociologist and analyst Julietta Castellanos told the AP, who highlighted the importance of avoiding the Free majority in the judiciary.

After being sworn in, the new magistrates held the first plenary meeting in one of the Congress halls and elected the lawyer Rebeca Lizette Ráquel Obando as the new president of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram the Voice of America.