Appointment and Removal Process for Judges in Argentina: The Role of Judicial Councils and Impeachment Juries in Promoting Judicial Independence, The

Latin American Politics and Society, Summer 2007 by Chávez, Rebecca Bill

Like Perón's 1947 appointees, each of Menem's 1989-90 Supreme Court appointees had close personal or political ties to the president. The resignations of two justices he had inherited from predecessor Raul Alfonsin, along with the expansion of the court from five to nine, allowed Menem to appoint six justices early in his first term. Menem replaced the Alfonsin appointees with his longtime friend Julio Oyhanarte and with Eduardo Moliné O'Connor. Moliné O'Connor's background suggests selection based on personal ties to the administration rather than professional qualifications. His most recent legal publication had appeared in 1968, and his most recent professional post was president of the Argentine Tennis Association. His sisters were married to two Menem advisers, the Anzorreguy brothers (Nuevo Sur 1990; Cronista 1990a, b).

To ensure Senate approval when he appointed four justices in his 1990 expansion of the Supreme Court, Menem did not abide by a transparent process. The speed of congressional proceedings impeded a thorough evaluation of the candidates. On April 18, 1990, only one day after announcing the expansion, Menem submitted his list of nominees to the PJ-controlled Senate. The two representatives from the opposition Union Civica Radical (UCR) on the Senate Appointment Committee were absent from the hearing during which PJ committee members unanimously approved Menem's candidates. When the committee's approval reached the floor, the Senate approved the list in a secret session only seven minutes long, with no UCR senators in attendance. The new justices took their seats just eight days after Menem had nominated them (Verbitsky 1993, 52; Clarín 1990; La Nación 1990).

Menem appointed his allies Rodolfo Barra, Mariano Augusto Cavagna Martínez, Julio Salvador Nazareno, and Ricardo Eugenio Gabriel Levene to fill the four new seats. Barra had strong ties to the PJ and to Menem. He was a close friend of executive functionaries and had been Menem's undersecretary of the interior (Barra 1998). Menem declared that when his administration faced legal challenges, Barra would "fix the problem" (Baglini 1993, 101). In addition, Barra made a public admission of his deference to Menem: "My only bosses are Peron and Menem" (Verbitsky 1993, 56). In 1993, Barra stated, "I cannot dictate a ruling that is against the government. I only issue rulings that are favorable to administration officials" (Baglini 1993, 101-2). Like Barra, Cavagna Martinez had been a staunch Peronist and had personal ties to the government. He was a frequent guest at social gatherings of Menem administration officials (Baglini 1993, 81; Verbitsky 1993, 53-56).

Nazareno and Levene also had connections to Menem and to his party before joining the court in the 1990 expansion. Nazareno had lived in Menem's home province of La Rioja, where he was close to the Menem family. He worked in a law firm with the president's brother, who dated Nazareno's sister. In 1986, Menem, who was then governor of La Rioja, appointed Nazareno to the provincial attorney general's office and then to the La Rioja Supreme Court. Levene had a long history of ties to the PJ. He served on the Supreme Court of the PJ administration in 1975; he also had been an adviser to Menem's undersecretary of justice (Ambito Financiero 1990; La Nación 1993; La Voz del Interior 1996).