Judge Eugenio Zaffaroni will leave his position at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This was announced by himself, by his own decision, arguing that “I am not going to run for reelection because I do not want to be an eternal judge,” according to what was transmitted to Clarion sources close to the magistrate.
Zaffaroni, 81, has been an international court judge since 2016, although he was elected to that chair in mid-2015, by the Organization of American States (OAS), during the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Previously, from 2003 to 2014, he was a member of the Supreme Court of Justice, until his retirement from office, on the verge of turning 75, the maximum term established by the National Constitution.
His six-year mandate at the IACHR is in force until January 1, 2022, but the judge himself, in the midst of versions about his departure, expressed to those around him: “I don’t want to be an eternal judge and finish a mandate almost 90 years old. ” In that sense, he cited as a precedent when he left the Court, without making use of the possibility of renewing his cycle up to 80 years, as allowed by the Constitution. “As happened that time, now I have to leave my place in the Inter-American Court so that another Argentine can occupy it,” he explained.
Zaffaroni denied a conflict with the Foreign Ministry, which had to formally propose him for the position. And he explained that he had notified Felipe Solá, the foreign minister, of the decision a year ago.
The judge, highly controversial due to his affinity relationship with Kirchnerism even in his time as Minister of the Supreme Court, was denounced earlier this month before the IACHR by the leader of the Civic Coalition Elisa Carrió. The former deputy asked for her impeachment before the international body for having signed a request entitled “With Lawfare there is no democracy”, in which she asked for pardon for former vice president Amado Boudou, days after the Court confirmed his prison sentence for corruption, for five years and eight months, in the Ciccone case.
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