Judiciary asks government to avoid ‘pressure on judges’

Judiciary power asked today the national government to “exercise its faculties within the boundaries of the procedural rules and avoid using direct or indirect mechanisms to pressure judges thus affecting their independence”, in a communiqué released yesterday, after judges designated to rule the Media Law reported their independence was being attacked by the Executive branch.

The communiqué - signed by the National Committee for the Judicial Independence protection, which belongs to the Supreme Court, the Courts Federal Board, the Judges Association, and the Magistrate’s Argentine Federation - came after Justice Minister Julio Alak increased yesterday the battle between the national government and the media group Clarín ahead of tomorrow’s injunction deadline.

The minister stated that if the Civil and Commercial Court extended the injunction filed by the Clarín Group, preventing the implementation of divestment Article 161, “beyond December 7”, “this would imply an uprising against a national law and generate a conflict of powers.”

The minister made these statements when announcing a further challenge to the decision made by the Civil and Commercial Court on Tuesday, in which the court rejected a challenge against one of its judges, Francisco de las Carreras.