{"id":100809,"date":"2026-04-16T15:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/?post_type=publicaciones&p=100809"},"modified":"2026-04-16T16:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:00:13","slug":"report-international-mission-of-judges-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"publicaciones","link":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/publications\/report-international-mission-of-judges-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"Report International Mission of Judges \u2013 Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Observation on the Election Process of Attorney General and the State of Judicial Independence in Guatemala<\/strong><\/p>\n

This report focuses its analysis on 2026, a year marked by important second-tier elections: the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Constitutional Court, and the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office. The Mission emphasizes that these processes are particularly significant given the recent political context, in which the will of the people expressed at the polls in 2023 faced attempts to undermine it by actors entrenched within the judicial system.<\/p>\n

In April of this year, the International Mission of Judges, composed of academics and representatives of judges\u2019 associations from Germany, Sweden, ReNorway, and Poland\u2014members of the International Union of Magistrates\u2014 spent five days in Guatemala and held interviews with magistrates, judges, lawyers, human rights defenders, indigenous authorities, civil society organizations, and the international community, gathering information and observing on the ground the election process for the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office, as well as the state of judicial independence in Guatemala.<\/p>\n

Key Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n

On judicial independence:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mission identified a structural divide between the judiciary and the magistracy: while access to the judicial career is based on competitive examinations, promotion to magistracy positions is subject to technical-political processes that introduce risks of politicization and undermine meritocracy. Furthermore, the complete and simultaneous renewal of the high courts every five years generates institutional instability and weakens jurisprudential continuity.<\/p>\n

The Mission also received testimonies regarding a climate of fear affecting justice officials, including threats, criminalization proceedings, and cases of exile\u2014among them, at least four members of the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Association of Judges for Integrity (AGJI).<\/p>\n

Regarding second-tier elections:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The processes formally comply with deadlines and procedures, but doubts persist regarding the effective application of objective criteria to evaluate the capacity, suitability, and integrity of candidates. A widespread climate of mistrust and a high perception of politicization were identified, which harm the legal system.<\/p>\n

Regarding the election of the Attorney General:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mission raises specific concerns regarding the clarity and stability of the evaluation criteria, the handling of public information regarding the candidates, and the risks of strategic litigation in the process. It emphasizes that the selection of the next Attorney General is of strategic importance for rebuilding institutional trust.<\/p>\n

On Indigenous Nations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report recognizes the fundamental role of Indigenous authorities in defending democratic order, while identifying linguistic, geographic, and institutional barriers that limit their access to justice and their participation in second-tier electoral processes.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mission issues nine recommendations addressed to the Guatemalan State:<\/p>\n

1. Strengthen the judicial career path with objective, transparent, and merit-based promotion mechanisms.
\n2. Revise the model for second-tier elections to reduce opportunities for discretion.
\n3. Ensure the stability of judges\u2019 tenure in accordance with due process.
\n4. Improve candidate evaluation mechanisms with clear and consistent criteria.
\n5. Prevent the undue judicialization of selection processes.
\n6. Strengthen the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office by promoting its autonomy and technical expertise.
\n7. Guarantee safe working conditions for justice system personnel, free from intimidation or reprisals.
\n8. Promote the inclusion and participation of indigenous peoples in the justice system.
\n9. Foster substantive transparency in the decisions of selection bodies.<\/p>\n

This report is a publication of the International Union of Magistrates, the German Judges Association, the Norwegian Judges Association, and the Swedish Judges Association.<\/p>\n

Download: REPORT INTERNATIONAL MISSION OF JUDGES<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":100803,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[381,340,349],"class_list":["post-100809","publicaciones","type-publicaciones","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-3","category-democracy","category-independence-of-the-judiciary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicaciones\/100809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publicaciones"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publicaciones"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}