Argentine President urged to choose a woman for the Supreme Court

Thursday, February 17th 2022 - 21:04 UTC

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The Supreme Court is made up of only four permanent Justices -all male- since Highton's resignation last year

Argentine President Alberto Fernández has been pressured this week by Amnesty International and other non-government organizations to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court with a female magistrate, it was reported.

The NGOs sent a leatter to the head of state expressing their concern over the delay in submitting to the Senate the name of the candidate for the position.

Signing the request were, in addition to Amnesty International, Abofem Argentina, the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Latin American Justice and Gender Team (ELA), the Fundación for the Study and Research of Women (FEIM), the Women in Equality Foundation (MEI), the Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP), Citizen Power and GQUA.

They all underscored the “fact that the highest-ranking judicial body lack[ed] s female representation” following the resignation of Justice Elena Highhton de Nolasco.

“This situation violates the international commitments that our country has in terms of gender equality and human rights, under which the State must promote measures to promote parity in public office,” the NGOs said.

They also highlighted the importance of the next judge being technically proficient and politically independent. “In particular, the candidate must demonstrate professional and academic performance with a gender perspective, that is, aware of the influence that the difference in the roles, functions and attributes assigned in a given society to people based on their gender has had and has in the inequality of opportunities in access to justice and in the exercise of rights of women and LGTBIQ+ people,” they went on.

The NGOs also said it was essential that the chosen candidate had a proven commitment to the rule of law as well as to democratic values, human rights, the principle of non-discrimination and the most vulnerable groups.

The groups also asked the national government to set in place a process which guaranteed social consensus around the chosen candidate.

Highton de Nolasco resigned from the Supreme Court Nov. 1 last year. President Fernández should have chosen her successor as per the decree he signed together with then-President Néstor Kirchner in 2003, which granted heads of state 30 days to choose a replacement to be put up before the Senate for approval.