Chamber of Advocates urges maturity, quick agreement on new chief justice
'What ought to have been a serious, mature and discreet process now increasingly resembles a public farce'
The Chamber of Advocates on Wednesday urged the political leaders to act with constitutional maturity and reach an agreement on the appointment of the chief justice without further delay.
The chamber expressed its regret that, instead of the situation being addressed with a sense of institutional responsibility, it had degenerated into a spectacle that did no credit to the country’s highest institutions.
"What ought to have been a serious, mature and discreet process now increasingly resembles a public farce," it said.
"The Constitution provides for a two-thirds majority precisely to ensure that such an appointment is the result of national consensus and not political calculation. The fact that the political parties have failed to reach agreement, and that the process has been forced into the public domain through speculation and the circulation of the names of potential candidates, demonstrates a serious lack of leadership and national responsibility."
The Chamber said the political class had failed the country by allowing such a delicate process to be instrumentalised for political ends.
The publication and public discussion of the names of members of the judiciary or prospective candidates was a practice that ran counter to the spirit of this appointment and exposed individuals to unwarranted pressure and unjustified criticism, it argued.
This process ought to have been confidential, conducted with dignity and with full respect towards the institution of the judiciary. The authority and credibility of the courts could not remain subject to political calculations or negotiations carried out on the public stage.
The chamber called on the political leaders to act with constitutional maturity and to reach agreement without further delay.