Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 6:08 p.m.
With or without opposition support, and despite the lack of agreements between the coalitions in the compound, the deputies of the Frente de Todos advanced with the Impeachment process against the four Supreme Court judges.
The meeting of the Impeachment Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, chaired by the pro-government legislator, Carolina Gaillard, began this Thursday morning in order to approve the admissibility of the files being processed against Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, Juan Carlos Maqueda and Ricardo Lorenzetti.
With a majority in commission, the Frente de Todos secured the endorsement of the prosecution with 16 votes in favor and 15 against, which implies the possibility of opening the summary to gather the evidence that supports the accusation against the four members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. There is an exception within the opposition block, since legislators Juan López and Paula Olivetto, belonging to the Civic Coalition, will endorse the process against Judge Lorenzetti, arguing the files presented by their party in 2016.
The final resolution of the commission admits the process to the four members of the Supreme Court for the 14 files that are processed in it. From now on, the impeachment process will continue with a period of investigation, collection of evidence and testimony to conclude whether an opinion will be issued accusing each of the Court’s judges. This stage is expected to last at least three months.
The opinion of the Impeachment Committee is valid for three years, so the project could be debated in the Chamber of Deputies within that period, contemplating that the ruling party does not currently have the special majority necessary for it to be approved, that is, two thirds of the legislators present.
What does the resolution presented by the FdT indicate?
The 12-page brief was read by the president of the commission, Carolina Gaillard. It listed the 14 files that “request the impeachment of the Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Ministers Horacio Daniel Rosatti, Carlos Fernando Rosenkrantz, Juan Carlos Maqueda and Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti, either individually or concurrent due to the causes of poor performance and/or the possible commission of crimes in the exercise of their functions”.
“The fourteen requests promoted accumulate more than sixty facts that would configure the causes authorized by the National Constitution of poor performance and crimes committed in the exercise of their functions and that -if proven- would result in very serious institutional violations,” the text states.
The letter also indicates that “the tenor of the complaints – if proven – would be the prelude to a situation of extreme institutional gravity that implies the rupture of the harmony that must be ensured within a Federal State and a republican and democratic regime.”
