On 6 August, Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández railed against two federal judges after they issued an order she perceived as being favourable to former president, Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
Analysis:
Cristina Fernández’s attack on judges Martín Irurzun and Leopoldo Bruglia, whom she accuses of being politically biased and incompetent, comes as the national congress is debating a divisive judicial reform tabled by President Alberto Fernández last week, which is vehemently opposed by the political opposition. The Fernández duo argue that judicial reform is needed to correct the political bias in the country’s justice system, while the opposition fears that the Fernández government would use the reform to shield Cristina and her allies from prosecution in the multiple corruption investigations they face - Cristina dismisses the corruption cases relating to her time as president (2007-2015), many of which have reached the courts, as political persecution against her and the Partido Justicialista (PJ, Peronists) by the Macri administration.
- On 5 August, Irurzun and Bruglia issued an order restricting the time period for the analysis of phone records in an investigation into suspicions that Macri and former public officials exercised undue use of power and pressured business executives into certain decisions.
- Cristina then took to Twitter yesterday to slam the judges’ order. Implying that Irurzun is biased, as he ordered the detention of Macri’s opponents during his presidency, and questioning Bruglia’s professional credentials, Cristina said their order “consecrates once more impunity for Mauricio Macri”.
- This supposed bias amongst judges is one of the issues that President Fernández’s judicial reform proposal seeks to address, notably by increasing the number of federal judges. This point in particular causes discomfort amongst the opposition, as the current government would be responsible for appointing new magistrates.
- The reform faces widespread criticism and questioning. Yesterday, the senate’s justice & constitutional affairs committee heard the opinion of various judicial experts, many of whom expressed reservations with different aspects of the reform, including the impact it might have on the work of criminal courts, and the excess power it might give to federal judges.
Looking Ahead: Political tensions are already running high in Argentina, and political divisions are set to increase further as the reform continues to be debated in congress.