VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0428/01 0992148
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 092148Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3524
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000428 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS PHUM ASEC SNAR AR
SUBJECT: Argentina: Playing the Judicial Blame Game 
 
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0381 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0056 (C) BUENOS AIRES 
0219 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) 
set off a political firestorm between the executive, legislative, 
and judicial branches on who is to blame for Argentina's 
increasingly dysfunctional judicial system.  The courts have long 
been plagued by an overwhelming demand for judicial services, 
100-plus vacant judgeships, inadequate administrative and budgetary 
support, and obsolete technology and infrastructure.  The 
finger-pointing about judicial ineffectiveness takes place as the 
public grows increasingly anxious about crime, the top concern of 
voters according to most polls.  Judicial officials argue that the 
court system's problems require an executive and a legislative fix. 
After days of public squabbling, CFK's Cabinet Chief met with the 
Supreme Court to iron out differences.  The GOA subsequently stated 
that it would hire additional judicial personnel, and the Court 
announced that it would modernize its information technology 
infrastructure and create a trilateral Commission focused on 
expediting trials stemming from the 1970s "Dirty War."  Although the 
Supreme Court has an ambitious plan to make the judiciary more 
effective, to date CFK has demonstrated little sustained interest in 
pressing for judicial reform beyond calling for hasty adjudication 
of Dirty War trials.  End Summary. 
 
CFK Calls for Expedited HR Trials...Again 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's (CFK) renewed 
call for expedited court proceedings in human rights trials against 
former officials of the 1976-83 military dictatorship recently set 
off a firestorm between the executive, legislative and judicial 
branches with each side blaming the other for the snail-like pace of 
Argentina's administration of justice.  CFK used her March 1 State 
of the Nation address to Congress (Ref C) to reiterate her 
administration's commitment to pursue justice for the human rights 
abuses that were committed during the Dirty War era, and asserted 
that "the Executive and the Legislative branches have done their 
part.  It is now time for the Judiciary to act, as justice has been 
delayed far too long." 
 
¶3. (SBU) CFK has frequently called on the courts to speed up trials 
from the "Dirty War-era."  Judicial officials argue, however, that 
the judicial system's problems require an executive and a 
legislative fix, as the timely and effective delivery of justice has 
long been hampered by overwhelming demand for judicial services, 
100-plus vacant judgeships, inadequate administrative and budgetary 
support, and obsolete technology and infrastructure.  For years, 
human rights organizations have urged the three branches of 
government to meet to develop and implement measures that could 
improve the court's efficiency. 
 
Supreme Court: Get us More Money, More Judges 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Supreme Court on March 3 called for a meeting between 
all branches of the federal government to resolve the issue.  On 
March 5, Supreme Court Justice Carmen Argibay pointedly remarked 
that CFK was "perfectly aware of the court's poor budget situation." 
 She urged the Executive branch to speed up judicial nominations 
fill vacancies on the federal bench (currently over 140), and she 
added that all cases before the court, not just human rights cases, 
needed timely decisions.  Justice Carlos Fayt immediately backed 
Argibay, calling her "a responsible judge" who is "just presenting a 
status report" on the court's current challenges.  He also stressed 
that these issues must be solved by the executive and legislative 
branches. 
 
The Blame Game 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) It did not take long for CFK and her allies to respond to 
Argibay's objections.  The next day, CFK argued that "Argentines 
simply need justice."  She blamed the judiciary for "the release of 
dangerous detainees that later commit new crimes.  Blame should not 
be placed on any other branch of government.  The judiciary is the 
only branch that can prosecute and incarcerate criminals in a system 
with separation of powers."  Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez 
asserted that the Supreme Court had never formally complained of 
budgetary constraints.  He stressed that CFK was committed to 
improving judicial efficiency and noted that CFK had appointed 137 
judges in 2008, a significant increase in the number of judges (29) 
that had been appointed in 2007.  (Note: Official Council of 
Magistrates statistics, however, indicate that only 94 federal and 
national judges had been appointed.)  Minister Fernandez reiterated 
CFK's complaints of inordinate judicial delay in prosecuting human 
rights repressors, and asked the Judiciary to "fix" the situation. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) CFK's Congressional allies also came to her defense. 
Deputy Diana Conti, a member of the Council of Magistrates, issued a 
statement telling Justice Argibay "to shut up and work harder." 
Deputy Agustin Rossi, head of the Kirchner-allied (FpV) bloc in the 
lower house, accused Argibay of "making excuses".  Senator Miguel 
Angel Pichetto, head of the FpV bloc in the Senate, claimed that the 
Congress had done its part by passing a law in 2008 which "allows 
all cases to have a hearing before a permanent or substitute judge." 
 (Note: The law was passed in response to a 2007 Supreme Court order 
requiring the Congress to develop a process to appoint temporary 
judges.  Legal scholars, however, expressed concern that the law 
encourages delays in the selection of permanent judges and increases 
the executive branch's authority to appoint alternate or acting 
judges without public vetting.  Due to the temporary nature of the 
positions, there were some criticisms in the press that interim 
judges were subject to political manipulation.  Although the new law 
required the Executive branch to submit its nominations for 
temporary judges to the Senate, it still has not done so.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) In an attempt to lower the temperature on the debate, 
Justice Fayt asserted that there was no conflict between the three 
branches of government, a statement to which Justice Minister 
Fernandez swiftly agreed.  Supreme Court Vice-President Elena 
Highton de Nolasco subsequently declared that the spat with the CFK 
administration was over, but maintained that the Court was "in full 
agreement" with Justice Argibay's earlier statements. 
 
Truce 
----- 
 
¶8. (SBU) On March 11, CFK's Cabinet Chief Sergio Massa met with the 
Supreme Court at Chief Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti's request.  After 
the meeting, Lorenzetti publicly stated that the courts would 
periodically report to the administration on their progress in 
trying human rights cases.  The government, in turn, announced it 
would allocate AR$36 million (US$9.86 million) to hire approximately 
750 new employees for the courts and upgrade the criminal justice 
system's information technology in an attempt to speed up trials. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In a March 25 conversation with the Ambassador, however, 
Lorenzetti complained that the executive had not yet introduced a 
bill in the Congress authorizing the budget increase.  Once the bill 
is passed, the Council of Magistrates, not the Supreme Court, would 
administer the funds.  Although he expressed frustration with the 
slow pace of judicial reform, he noted positively that the Council 
would soon announce a public bid to overhaul the courts' technology 
infrastructure. 
 
¶10. (SBU) On April 1, Lorenzetti announced the opening of bidding to 
upgrade the judiciary's IT system.  He explained that the 
computerization of court records would increase judicial efficiency 
and would be the most important transformation of the judicial 
system in history.  The Council's president, Luis Bunge Campos, 
explained that digitizing the court's case management system would 
"end the [bureaucratic] nightmare that is the judicial 
investigation" by expediting the judicial process and improving 
transparency.  According to press reports, the data center is 
expected to be operational by 2010. 
 
Supreme Court: We Will Not be Pressured 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) On April 7, Lorenzetti announced the creation of a 
Commission for the Coordination and Streamlining of Crimes against 
Humanity Cases, which will include participation by representatives 
from the Supreme Court, the judiciary, the General Prosecutor's 
Office, the Council of Magistrates and the Legislative branch.  The 
Commission will focus exclusively on developing measures to expedite 
Dirty War-era trials.  During the presentation, Lorenzetti carefully 
avoided referring to CFK's repeated requests to speed up the trials 
and denied that the executive branch had pressured the Supreme Court 
to create the Commission.  "No judge, much less the justices of the 
Supreme Court, can be pressured.  We will not be pressured by 
anyone," he stated. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Although CFK set off the latest round of recrimination 
with her appeal to accelerate the prosecution of human rights 
violations committed by the 1976-83 military regime, the public is 
generally more concerned about addressing current violent street 
crime.  In periodic demonstrations against growing insecurity in the 
greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, public outrage is evident at 
the effective impunity afforded criminals by a dysfunctional 
judicial system.  The legal framework is full of loopholes and 
internal contradictions, but police, prosecutors, and judges share 
the blame -- due to inadequate resources, training, corruption, or 
incompetence.  Judges have broad discretion as to whether and how to 
pursue investigations, contributing to a public perception that many 
decisions are arbitrary - or influenced.  In fact, a November 2008 
survey conducted by an NGO, The Citizens' Trust in Justice, found 
that 85% of Argentines had a negative perception of the general 
behavior of judges, including their impartiality, reliability, 
honesty and reputation. 
 
¶13. (SBU) To address this, the Supreme Court has embarked on an 
ambitious reform program to modernize the judiciary and improve the 
rule of law in Argentina.  The current administration, legislative 
branch, and lower court officials, however, have shown mixed 
interest in supporting judicial reform, and the question remains 
whether the Supreme Court has the authority, not to mention the 
political support, to lead the way to an effective and independent 
judiciary.  End Comment. 
 
WAYNE