Summary


A lot is at stake with the ongoing judicial nominations in Guatemala considering so much ground has already been lost for the rule of law.

Guatemala’s Congress was slated to elect an entirely new judiciary in mid-October of this year. The judicial elections are occurring in the shadows of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) being forced to leave and in the middle of rapid rule of law backsliding. Nevertheless, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has pushed back and proven to be a “pocket of resistance” in a closing space for civil society and the justice sector.

This brief examines the judicial nominations process and makes recommendations for more fair and impartial judicial nominations and elections.

Authors: Jaime Chávez Alor (Latin America Policy Manager at Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice) and Lauren McIntosh (Legal Officer at ILAC).