The National Board of Justice of Peru rejects a motion approved in Congress to investigate him

The autonomous body warned that the eventual removal of its members would constitute “a breakdown of the constitutional order and the balance of powers.”

The Congress of the Republic of Peru approved this Thursday a motion for one of its bodies to investigate the National Board of Justice (JNJ) and, ultimately, remove all members.

With 84 votes in favor, 22 against and seven abstentions, the plenary session of Parliament entrusted the Justice and Human Rights Commission with a summary investigation, whose report must be submitted within seven business days.

Legislator Patricia Chirinos, the sole author of the project, stated during the debate that the JNJ “has become a political tool subservient to particular interests and that he has incurred in very serious faults”.

“With her actions she has proven to be rotten,” said Chirinos. “It is time to act quickly to prevent the JNJ from continuing to corrupt our democracy with impunity,” he added.

Among its foundations, motion No. 7565 sets out the JNJ’s ruling on the impeachment trial against the former National Prosecutor, Zoraida Avalos.

At the time, the organization requested “further reflection on the constitutional accusation,” before Avalos was dismissed.

The answer

The National Board of Justice quickly issued a statement in which it rejected the “threat to the constitutional order”.

In the text he spoke of “false accusations and lacking even the slightest indications of any fault” and indicated that once again the organization is intimidated “for no other reason than the independent exercise of its constitutional functions.”

“The JNJ considers that the eventual removal of its members, without a pre-established procedure, without a typified cause and with a blatant lack of foundation, would constitute a breakdown of the constitutional order and the balance of powers in Peru,” he concluded.

Local and international rejection

Juanita Goebertus, director for the Americas of Human Rights Watch, was one of the first to speak out on this decision, which branded as “an attack against independent institutions”, and that constitutes a threat to “democracy in Peru.”

“The attempts by sectors of Congress to dismiss the National Board of Justice and the Attorney General of the Nation are very worrying. [Patricia Benavides] to block investigations against him,” he added in X.

Benavides has preliminary investigations by the JNJ that were recently suspended by order of Judge Jacqueline Tarrillo Meneses. For this reason, political sectors and the local press speak of “shielding” by Congress in your favor.

For her part, parliamentarian Ruth Luque—one of those who voted against the motion— qualified as “implausible” that the intention is to remove the members of the JNJ “solely because they do not agree with the exhortation pronouncement that he made at the time.”

“They politically interfere against the justice system, because we must remember that The JNJ appoints and ratifies judges and prosecutors and see procedures,” he added on the social network.

While the civil association Transparencia Peru called on Parliament to “consider the serious consequences of the violation of the institutionality of the JNJ.”

Likewise, he recalled that in a few months the JNJ must evaluate the continuity of the head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Piero Corvetto, and the head of the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec), Carmen Velarde.

“These decisions could be compromised if these threats to their institutionality materialize,” he said.

In a long statement, he warned that “if we added to the institutional weakening the eventual appointment as members of the JNJ of unsuitable people, or those committed to particular interests, both the justice system and the electoral system would be seriously affected.”

Reconsideration

Congresswoman Sigrid Bazan presented this Thursday a reconsideration of the vote, in a text sent to the senior officer of Parliament, Giovanni Forno.

“We cannot continue destroying the autonomy of the few democratic institutions that remain in our country in this way!” he asserted.