President Javier Milei has confirmed the names of two judges he wants to become part of the Supreme Court.
In a statement issued by his ‘Office of the President’ social media account, Milei’s government said the head of state is nominating federal judge Ariel Lijo to fill the existing vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Replacing Elena Highton de Nolasco, who left the court in November 2021, Lijo’s appointment – should he win congressional approval – would restore the nation’s highest tribunal to full capacity.
Milei’s office also announced that the president will nominate Manuel García-Mansilla to replace Supreme Court Justice Juan Carlos Maqueda, who will step down at the end of the year.
"In accordance with the modification of Decree 222/2003, which will be published in the next few hours, [the president] has decided to nominate Dr Manuel García-Mansilla to replace the current Supreme Court judge, Juan Carlos Maqueda, who turns 75 on December 29 and must leave office on that date, as established by law."
It is understood that the decree, the content of which is not yet fully known, will contain measures allowing Supreme Court appointment procedures to begin before there is a vacancy.
Both candidates will have to win the support of the Senate if they are to make it to the Supreme Court.
Milei’s statement expressed its “gratitude” for the “valuable” and “distinguished work of Dr. Maqueda” for the past 20 years.
Making its case for the nominations, the president’s office said Lijo has “stood out in his prominent judicial career in the criminal field." García-Mansilla, meanwhile, was described as "a prestigious academic with a solid background in constitutional law.”
The appointment of both judges would allow Argentina to “return to the principles of [Juan Bautista] Alberdi's Constitution that made our country great,” argued the statement, which called for a justice system that “strictly and honourably defends the values of life, liberty and property of Argentines.”
"May God bless the Argentines and may the Forces of Heaven be with us," the statement concluded.
Nominees
Ariel Lijo, 56, has a long track record in the Judiciary and currently leads one of the top 12 Comodoro Py federal courthouses
Appointed in 2004 as a federal judge, Lijo quickly became involved in a number of politically sensitive cases, including investigations into alleged irregularities into the investigation of the 1994 AMIA Jewish community centre bombing, for which he sent former president Carlos Menem, former SIDE chief Hugo Anzorreguy and former judge Juan José Galeano to trial.
He was also involved in cases probing human rights violations during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, including disappearances and torture related to Army Battalion 601 and the assassination of late former CGT secretary José Rucci dating back to that era.
Perhaps his most high-profile case involved former vice-president Amado Boudou, who was investigated over his role in the fraudulent acquisition of Ciccone Calcografica, the only facility in Argentina with the capacity to print legal tender.
Lijo, who is close to current Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti, also investigated a number of former officials and businessmen for alleged money-laundering via electoral campaign contributions.
Former Coalición Cívica leader Elisa Carrió accused the judge of forming a secret illegal association with his brother, Alfredo Lijo, a lawyer who worked at the General Audit Office of the Nation (AGN), and ex-Federal planning minister Julio de Vido, accusing them of blocking graft cases.
Constitutional scholar Manuel José García-Mansilla is the current dean of the Universidad Austral, which Supreme Court’s vice-president, Carlos Rosenkrantz, also attended. On his CV, the nominee describes himself as a "specialist in constitutional law, oil and gas and business law."
He supported former president Maurico Macri’s controversial 2015 move to appoint Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rossati to the nation’s highest tribunal by decree and strongly criticised last year’s attempt by the Alberto Fernández government to impeach sitting justices.
García Mansilla, 53, proclaims himself to be a fervent defender of the independence of the Judiciary and in previous writings, has highlighted the “remarkable influence that the US Constitution had on our constituents.”
García-Mansilla has some claim to Argentina’s storied history: the "García" in his surname comes from José, a minister during the presidency of Bernardino Rivadavia; the "Mansilla" comes from Lucio N. Mansilla, hero of the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado in 1845.
– TIMES/PERFIL/NA
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