SUPREME COURT NOMINEE WILL GIVE COURT RECORDS TO SENATE

Supreme Court nominee Carlos Cerda reached an agreement with Supreme Court President Enrique Tapia to provide the Senate with internal court evaluations of his work. The agreement should diffuse the tension resulting from the Supreme Court’s refusal to release the documents to the Senate last week.

The agreement allows Judge Cerda to personally transmit his evaluations to the senate while allowing the court to maintain its decision to refuse the Senate’s request. The senate, in an unprecedented request, asked the Supreme Court to provide the nomination committee with records of the grades Cerda received since becoming a judge more than 20 years ago. Cerda nearly lost his job in the early 1980s after refusing to apply amnesty laws in several human rights investigations of officials in the military regime of former dictator Augusto Pinochet.

“The senate must get to know me and the evaluations are part of this process, said Cerda. “What I do not want to say is that I am judging, or criticizing, or commenting on the decision of the excellent Supreme Court.

The nine-to-eight Supreme Court decision to withhold the records cited existing norms of the court prohibiting court dissemination of the evaluations.

“The refusal is for his benefit”, said Supreme Court President Tapia. “My opinion is that he is entitled to his own opinion and, if he likes, he can give the senate the evaluations. I cannot show them.”

Judge Cerda was picked by President Ricardo Lagos from a list of five candidates to fill the seat of José Benquis who stepped down last year after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. The senate confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin on Jan 18.