HomeNewsBriefGuatemala AG Seeks End of Law Facilitating Official Impunity
BRIEF

Guatemala AG Seeks End of Law Facilitating Official Impunity

GUATEMALA / 10 JUN 2016 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Guatemala's attorney general has called for the removal of a legal mechanism that protects government officials from prosecution in what amounts to the latest attempt to chip away at the impunity enjoyed by corrupt officials and politicians.

Attorney General Thelma Aldana said the "antejuicio" -- loosely translated as "preliminary hearing" -- "should not exist in Guatemala because it is a mechanism that serves to slow down the attorney general's investigations," reported elPeriódico.

Guatemala's "Antejuicio Law" (pdf) guarantees a government official protection from being detained or subjected to judicial proceedings unless a court first approves a preliminary hearing presided over by a special commission that determines if immunity from prosecution should be lifted.

According to elPeriódico, the preliminary hearing process takes an average of 18 months to complete. Aldana lamented that the length of the process often results in the loss of evidence and the opportunity to conduct a more thorough investigation.

Aldana was speaking in response to the Guatemalan Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia – CSJ) decision on June 8 to approve a preliminary hearing against three congressional representatives implicated in fraudulent contracting.

Iván Velásquez, head of Guatemala's UN-backed anti-impunity commission (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala - CICIG) has also previously voiced concerns over the preliminary hearing and its contribution to impunity for Guatemalan officials. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The stated intent in requiring a preliminary hearing is to shield officials from spurious or politically motivated accusations that might interfere with their work. However, by protecting politicians from prosecution, the antejuicio has helped institutionalize impunity for Guatemala's political class, incentivizing corrupt or criminal behavior.

Recently, the antejuicio has come under intense scrutiny and criticism in Guatemala, emerging as a key point of discussion during the first phase of the National Dialogue on Justice Sector Reform held from April 25 to June 3. During this phase -- a series of seven regional conferences to present proposed constitutional reforms -- calls emerged for the total elimination of the preliminary hearing. Some, however, held it should only be removed for lower-ranking officials, such as mayors and governors, but retained for the heads of Guatemala's executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Judicial Reform 

Reforming the Antejuicio Law will be difficult, as it requires Guatemalan lawmakers to remove legal protections they themselves benefit from. To overcome this conflict of interest, it appears Attorney General Aldana may be seeking to pressure politicians to act by tapping into public anger over government corruption -- a key factor in the downfall of ex-President Otto Pérez Molina, who is currently in prison for allegedly running a customs fraud network after a preliminary hearing led to the removal of his immunity from prosecution.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 12 SEP 2022

Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ecstasy are reshaping Latin America's drug trade.

ELITES AND CRIME / 25 JAN 2022

A fugitive former minister linked to a multi-million dollar cash seizure has turned himself over to Guatemalan authorities at an…

BELIZE / 10 AUG 2021

The leader of a transnational money laundering network cleaned drug money through a scheme that included casinos, a seafood export…

About InSight Crime

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…