The evaluation of candidates for the position of judges was carried out between December 2020 and May 2021, amid complaints about the election of some who had low grades and did not meet the requirements.
In the midst of the judicial crisis due to corruption and the growing distrust in the operators of justice, a renowned lawyer told of the bitter experience he went through in the application process to opt for the position of Criminal Instruction Judge of La Paz, due to the fact that his extensive trajectory, his academic merits and the good grades he obtained in the evaluations were not enough, but that he failed to "contribute" 15 thousand dollars for a supposed "recommendation" that would allow him to access the judicial appointment.
Justo Contreras (conventional name, because the lawyer asked Página Siete to keep his identity confidential to avoid reprisals in his work) applied, along with 302 other lawyers, to the call launched by the Magistrates Council, in December 2020, to opt for a position in the judicial administration for La Paz.
The candidate thought that all applicants would be evaluated under the same conditions, as required by the regulations of the Judicial Career System: "During the selection process of candidates for judges, transparency and access to information in a truthful, timely, understandable and reliable manner will be guaranteed in each of its phases".
The candidates had to pass several phases to access the position of judges: the qualification of merits (40 points), competence test (60 points), psychological evaluation (recommended/not recommended) and the interview (referential).
Contreras gathered all his documents to accredit his curriculum vitae, in which he had to certify his work experience in the legal field, academic level, postgraduate courses, among others. He also had to certify that he does not have a history of violence, a final charge sheet, cases of prohibition and incompatibility, not having been dismissed in a disciplinary process and others.
Página Siete reviewed the qualification process of the first phase of evaluation of the applicants and attorney Contreras was "qualified" to pass to the next phase.
However, "many who were dismissed, have passed, I do not know how they did it, but they passed and have been enabled," said the jurist, seeing in the next stage candidates who had been previously dismissed in a judicial instance.
The next test was the competency examination. The qualified candidates from different regions of the country had to travel to Sucre to take the written test at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Mayor, Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier.
Contreras said that the exam consisted of 60 questions and there was a three-hour period to complete the test. He said that the exam was very complex and complicated to solve, but there were some who completed the exam in half an hour. Here the candidates had to obtain a high score to qualify for the next phase.
According to the exam scores, the lawyer obtained a score above 40 points, which enabled him to proceed to the next stage.
He mentioned that the psychological evaluation was carried out at the Bar Association of La Paz, for the applicants of this region, which he also passed successfully and was qualified, as shown in the evaluation form.
Contreras reached the final phase: the interview. This stage took place at the Council of the Magistracy, in Sucre, from April 7 to 10, 2021. Each applicant had to be interviewed individually on issues concerning ethics, office management and proposal. The parameters to be graded were Good (B) and Regular (R), and those who did not attend were simply given NSP.
The jurist obtained a B (Good), according to the report card. And with this stage, all the tests that began in December 2020 ended and should conclude with the possession of the new best qualified judges, in an event scheduled for June 2021.
He said that once the test was concluded, he returned to La Paz to continue his work. Weeks later he received a call in which he was summoned to the Departmental Court of Justice, in reference to the tests he had passed to access the position of judge.
"A judge (of criminal matters) called me and summoned me to the Departmental Court of Justice to ask me for that money. He told me, just in case, the 15 thousand dollars is not only for me", assured the lawyer, detailing that the mentioned judge had indicated him that those resources were supposedly going to be distributed among the three instances that have to do with the justice area.
He explained that in that meeting he was told why he applied for a court that was "very desirable", since there were so many others in civil and family matters. He was also told that they were in charge of making a "recommendation" report for those who were going to access the position, since it was not enough the tests approved in the qualification process, but he had to put the 15 thousand dollars for the designation.
The lawyer told that it was impossible to pay that amount of money, besides he did not see it ethical to do that to access a position that has the responsibility of administering justice.
"I did not agree, and a week later the judges have been appointed to this position", he said.
According to the affected party, the judicial authority who called him was a "collector" who collected these amounts for others, who were hiding behind him so as not to be involved in corruption.
Judges observed
2020-2021 Different lawyers questioned the appointment of the former departmental prosecutor of La Paz, Edwin Blanco Soria, to the position of judge, due to the fact that three other applicants obtained better qualifications, and he is also investigated for concealing evidence in the case of Jhiery Fernández.
2021-2022 The lawyer Jorge Valda denounced that Marco Antonio Vargas and Liz Avilés, judges who will judge Jeanine Añez, acceded to the position in an irregular way, with low grades.
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