Mr. Alvarez: There should be no temporary positions in the Administration of Justice

The existence of pro tempore attorneys in the Public Prosecutor's Office was considered as an attack against the principles of justice, so was announced by José Alberto Álvarez, President of the National Association of Lawyers (CNA).

"There must be no interim positions" the lawyer claimed.

This conclusion arrived at by Mr. Alvarez comes as a result of the concerns presented by the former vice minister of domestic trade, Luis Eduardo Camacho González, who states that the sixth anti-corruption Prosecutor, Aurelio Vásquez, who has been one of the cases for which he is being prosecuted, is an interim one and his contract is renewed every three months.

Upon making this complaint, the CNA requested General Attorney, Kenya Porcell to abide by what the Inter-American Court of Human Rights prescribe which considers that the indefinite temporariness carries the risk that the investigating official would make decisions only in order to please the authorities.

The Vice President of the CNA, Juan Carlos Araúz, explained that by means of this request, the Association of Lawyers intends that these situations disappear from the system.

"The States have to find a way to prevent the justice workers within the administration of justice from being exposed to these circumstances," he added.

General Prosecutor Porcell created, in April 2015, three positions of anti-corruption prosecutors, in addition to the four ones that already existed, justifying this action on the increase in cases, while also making mention of the involvement of high-profile people, in reference to officials of the former government´s administration.

The creation of these new posts occurred at a time when many of these cases were being processed, whose the defense lawyers complained as being political persecution.

Out of these three prosecutors, only the fifth one, Enereida Barrias, holds a permanent place, while Mr. Vasquez and Mrs. Rovetto, who holds the seventh Prosecutor's office, are interim ones.

Proofs

The author of this complaint, Mr. Camacho Gonzalez, said that he presented to the CAN evidences that they are not acting in the right way.

In addition to this, he ensures that contracts for two or three months signed with the prosecutors makes them somehow act according to directions, because they know that their position hangs in the balance.

"Given the fact that they don´t hold permanent positions, they feel subjected to pressures," he added.

It is the view of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that stability of Justice workers is linked to the guarantee against "internal and external pressures", mainly of those who have the power to decide on their dismissal.

The CNA expects the General Prosecutor to make all necessary adjustments to ensure that this practice is stopped.