Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)

Supreme Tribunal of Justice
Tribunal Supremo de Justicia
TSJ building in Caracas
Established 1999
Country Venezuela
Location Caracas
Authorized by Constitution of Venezuela
Website Official website
President
Currently Miguel Ángel Martín
Since July 2017

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Spanish: Tribunal Supremo de Justicia or TSJ) is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.

The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers (of which there are six: constitutional, political/administrative, electoral, civil, criminal, and social) or in plenary session. Each chamber has five judges, except the constitutional, which has seven.[3] Its main function is to control, according to the constitution and related laws, the constitutionality and legality of public acts.

The Supreme Tribunal's 32 justices (magistrados) are appointed by the National Assembly and serve non-renewable 12-year terms. Appointments are made by a two-thirds majority, or a simple majority if efforts to appoint a judge fail three times in a row. Under article 265 of the 1999 Constitution, judges may be removed by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly, if the Attorney General, Comptroller General, and Human Rights Ombudsperson have previously agreed a "serious failure" and suspended the judge accordingly.[3]

History

The Tribunal was created under the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela, replacing the Supreme Court of Venezuela. For some years provisional statutes regulated the number of judges – initially 20, with three in each chamber except the constitutional, which had five – and their selection. The statutes were replaced in 2004 by an organic law (a law required to clarify constitutional provisions). The law also permitted the National Assembly to revoke the appointment of a judge, by a simple majority, where a judge had provided false information as to his/her credentials.[3]

Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela

Helicopter attack

Venezuela's protesters set fire to the executive directorate of the judiciary of the Supreme Court in the Chacao municipality on 12 June 2017. Violence broke out in protests at the Supreme Court over a bid to change the Constitution.[4] On 27 June 2017, a helicopter attacked the TSJ building with gunfire and grenades.[5]

Criticisms

Venezuela's judicial system has been deemed the most corrupt in the world by Transparency International in 2014.[6] Human Rights Watch claimed that in 2004, Hugo Chávez and his allies took over of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, filling it with supporters of Chávez and made new measures so the government could dismiss justices from the court. In 2010, legislators from Chávez’s political party appointed nine permanent judges and 32 stand-ins, which included several allies. They claim that some judges may face reprisals if they rule against government interests.[7]

It has also been alleged that the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, with the majority supporting Chávez, elected officials to the supposedly non-partisan National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE), despite the 1999 Constitution empowering the National Assembly of Venezuela to perform that action.[8] This resulted in Chavistas making up a majority of the CNE board.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Senado chileno reconoce al TSJ en el exilio como autoridad legítima de Venezuela". Diario Las Americas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  2. ↑ "Parlamento chileno aprueba proyecto que reconoce la legitimidad del TSJ venezolano en el exilio". La Patilla (in Spanish). 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  3. 1 2 3 Venezuelanalysis, 17 May 2004, “The Venezuelan Judicial System always was the Cinderella of the State Powers”
  4. ↑ "Venezuela protesters set fire to Supreme Court building as crisis deepens". The Telegraph. 13 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Venezuela crisis: Helicopter 'launches attack' on Supreme Court". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  6. ↑ "Corruption by Country/Territory: Venezuela". Transparency International. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "World Report 2012: Venezuela". Report. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  8. 1 2 Hawkins, Kirk A. (2010). Venezuela's Chavismo and populism in comparative perspective (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521765039.
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