New El Salvadoran Law Jeopardises Judicial independence and the Attorney General's Office

Figure 1) International Commission of Jurists, ‘El Salvador: Summary Dismissal of Judges is a blow to the Rule of Law’ (International Commission of Jurists, 5 May 2021)  

https://www.icj.org/el-salvador-summary-dismissal-of-judges-is-a-blow-to-the-rule-of-law Accessed 14 September 2021. 

On the 31st of August, the legislative Assembly in El Salvador passed Decree no. 144 and 145, which amend the Judicial Career Law and the Attorney General’s Office. Both decrees have been critiqued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Magistrates and Lawyers for falling short of the international standard for judicial independence. Namely, the maximum age for judicial office and the office of the Attorney General is 60 years of age, with immediate dismissal once that is reached. It is expected that between 200 to 700 judges will be forced to retire. An exception to this rule exists if their prolonged appointment is borne out of “necessity or specialty” (OAS.org).  For prosecutors, an exception is made for when a case requires their particular expertise. Lastly, both decrees introduce the possibility of temporarily allocating staff elsewhere. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur, these amendments challenge the independence of both the judiciary and the prosecutorial office. In fact, Human Rights Watch goes as far as to say that “these laws seem designed to ensure government control over a large number of lower-level judges and prosecutors” (Human Rights Watch 2021) Indeed, the open-ended nature of the terms ‘specialty,’ necessity,’ or ‘complexity’ which may lead to the Legislative Assembly appointing candidates that support their position and remove staff which opposes their policies. For more detailed information, please visit: 
https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2021/234.asp; 
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/02/el-salvador-new-laws-threaten-judicial-independence