MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Senate removes Supreme Court judge

Argentina's Senate voted by a two-thirds majority Wednesday to remove Supreme Court Judge Eduardo Moline O'Connor from the bench for malfeasance.

The vote was held in open session, but came after a closed-door debate, the record of which is to remain sealed for 50 years.

Moline O'Connor, who was appointed to the high court in 1990, became the first Argentine judge to be removed through the congressional impeachment process. Since taking office in May, President Nestor Kirchner has campaigned to purge the Supreme Court, one of the most discredited institutions in a country whose citizens have little confidence in any part of government. The Senate suspended O'Connor in early October after voting by a margin of 40-18 to proceed with the impeachment trial.

In its articles of impeachment, the lower house charged him with using his position on the Supreme Court to favor a private company that was demanding the government pay the balance on a multi-million-dollar contract whose validity was being questioned by state auditors.

He was also accused of sabotaging probes into tax evasion and car smuggling by exceeding his authority to impose sanctions on two lower-court judges who were leading those investigations.

O'Connor became a Supreme Court judge on Aug. 6, 1990, and formed part of the so-called "automatic majority" that consistently favored the 1989-1990 government of Carlos Menem.

Kirchner attacked the pro-Menem faction in his proposal to purge the Supreme Court and restore its credibility.

Then-Chief Justice Julio Nazareno stepped down in June when the lower house voted to impeach him for the same charges leveled against O'Connor. Aldolfo Vazquez, another Menem ally on the court, is also facing an impeachment process, expected to begin in February.

Kirchner's offensive is also credited with prompting the resignation Monday of Guillermo Lopez and the announcement that Carlos Fayt - the court's longest-serving member - will step down in March.

In an effort to depoliticize the judiciary, the president has instituted a system whereby nominees to the high court are subject to a vetting process that includes impute from lawmakers, bar associations and civil society.