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Vance Center Keeps Focus on Guatemala

June 2019

(Judges of the Guatemalan Association of Judges for Integrity with Jaime Chavez Alor | Photo Credit: Jaime Chavez Alor) 

Latin American Policy Manager Jaime Chávez Alor met in Guatemala City with Vance Center partner law firms, civil society organizations, and a think tank, to pursue Lawyers Council for Civil and Economic Rights initiatives related to strengthening judicial independence and combating corruption.

In a meeting with the Frente Ciudadano contra la Corrupción, Chavez Alor discussed Lawyers Council initiatives related to the appointment of judges and magistrates. The Lawyers Council is planning a delegation of its members to visit Guatemala next month to engage with the legal community and stakeholders in the appointment of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges. In April 2019, a delegation of the Lawyers Council visited Peru in a similar exercise.

María Isabel Luján, Enrique Möller and Claudia Murga from Fundación Pro Bono Guatemala (in formation), identified particular challenges facing the judiciary in assuring judicial independence and areas of opportunity to strengthen the work of civil society and organize groups of lawyers to help.

Chavez Alor also met with Judge Haroldo Vásquez Flores and other judges of the Guatemalan Association of Judges for Integrity to explore opportunities for collaboration in strengthening judicial capacity in the country.  This could include training of judges and collaboration on setting rules of judicial professional conduct.

With Edie Cux and Christoph Kowalewski from Acción Ciudadana, Jose Echeverria from Movimiento Civico Nacional, Carmen Aida Ibarra from Movimiento Pro Justicia, Juan Pablo Morataya from Centrarse, Patricia Garcia from GIZ Guatemala, and Lorena Escobar and Gustavo Garcia from Asies, Chavez Alor discussed civil society collaboration in pursuing judicial independence and curtailing corruption.

Chavez Alor also attended an event organized by Acción Ciudadana and other organizations on the status of anticorruption legislation in Guatemala.