Argentine Supreme Court in Institutional Crisis

A series of questionable events has place Argentina’s Supreme Court in an institutional crisis as political leaders and jurists continue to express concern over the early election of Supreme Court President Ricardo Lorenzetti. Last week the President of the nation’s highest tribunal said that, due to moral fatigue, he would not seek a new mandate. But his appointment was ratified the very next day in a statement released by the informative arm of the Court. A2013 judicial democratization proposal submitted by President Cristina Fernandez was opposed by Lorenzetti and also by 97-year-old Justice Carlos Fayt and was crushed by the Court later that year. The Supreme Court is required by law to have five members. Lorenzetti, however, has said he can work with four, yet critics say that the Court cannot perform well with one fifth of its members absent. The peculiar re-election of the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court nine months in advance also raises doubts about the lucidity of Fayt. On Tuesday, the Impeachment Commission of the Lower House of Parliament is expected to assess Fayt’s mental and physical capacity. Some critics have called on the Commission to investigate the recent scandal involving Lorenzetti, as well. Leo Poblete reports from Buenos Aires for teleSUR.