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A Crusade for Justice
Posted On 23 Aug 2017
Ecuadornews:
They have a lot in common. They were judges. They all were selected on their own right. They all had a hot potato on their desks. They all assured having received visits from a high official of the previous government. They all were dismissed. And they announced Monday that it is time to sue the Judiciary Council and start a crusade for the independence of Justice.
“When you think of a dismissed judge, the first thing you think about is that he has been involved in the act of corruption. It is not our case,” former judge Madeleine Pinoargote makes clear.
In a Rule of Law, a first instance court judge can only be tried by a tribunal judge, and a court judge by a National Court judge. In Ecuador, everyone can be dismissed by the Judiciary Council. And although the Judicial Function Act clarifies that, in no case, the Judiciary Council will be above the judges, you may not know the name of the president of the National Court; but guess who´s the president of the Judiciary? Gustavo Jalkh. The former private secretary of Rafael Correa has led the so-called and publicized “process of modernization of justice,” and also his less publicized purge process.
The 37 former magistrates met last week to discuss the actions they intend to take in the case. “We know this could bring retaliation for us. But we will stand firm, and we will tell what is really happening in the Ecuadorean justice system,” said Pinargote. (I)
Source: http://www.expreso.ec/
