PERU: DPLF expresses concern over reactivation of the election process of judges of the Constitutional Court

April 29, 2021

The Plenary of the Peruvian Congress has decided to reactivate the Special Commission in charge of evaluating candidates for the position of judges of the Constitutional Court. This Commission was deactivated in November 2020, in the context of the deep political crisis that the country was going through, after several parliamentary benches withdrew their members amid serious questions about its opacity, inconsistencies in the evaluation of the files and the arbitrary disqualification of several candidates through decisions contrary to the rules of the competition that were not rectified. 

Furthermore, despite the fact that the Special Commission submitted the text of its Rules of Procedure to an open consultation, in which it received contributions or observations from national and international civil society and specialized public bodies such as the National Justice Board (JNJ), the Ombudsman's Office (DP) and the National Civil Service Authority (SERVIR), these contributions were not analyzed or debated, in order to guarantee a transparent, public, merit-based, participatory and merit-based mechanism that respects the principles of equality and non-discrimination.  

DPLF expresses its deep concern about the reactivation of this selection process, adopted after the electoral results of April 11, 2021, which defined the composition of the future Parliament and the holding of a second round for the presidential election. 

Read the full statement here.