Election of Judges of the Supreme Court by direct vote of the people (through elections "nonpartisan") Part 2-Final

-Continued from Part 1 published in the same place under the same title-

7. Specific project:

a) propose that Articles 108 and 111 of the Constitution, by an appropriate constitutional reform, to be replaced by the following:

Article 108: The National Judicial Power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and lower courts as Congress may constitute in the territory of the Nation. The Supreme Court shall consist of nine judges, and matching requiring a vote of at least five of them to dictate sentencia90. The Supreme Court judges are elected directly by the people of the provinces and the City of Buenos Aires, and will last nine years in the exercise of its mandate, is not possible without immediate reelection two years pass from the end of mandato91 . The procedure for the election of judges of the Supreme Court shall:

1. The only effect of the choice of the judges of the Supreme Court, the country is divided into nine electoral districts and elected Judge citizen who obtains an absolute majority of votes in each district. In the event that no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first round, there will be a second round with the two candidates who obtained the greatest number of votes.

2. Candidates who meet the requirements for the position of Judge of the Supreme Court must submit their nomination endorsed by the signatures of citizens eligible to vote in the appropriate district, representing one thousandth of the electoral roll of distrito.92

3. The elections are "nonpartisan," so that candidates can not be political parties or support any candidate. The ballots used in the election act only contain the names of the candidates, no symbols or name of any group 93.

4. Justices of the Supreme Court shall not exercise any representation of the district in which they were elected, and its function is to administer justice independently and impartially 94.

5. An Act of Congress shall determine the manner in which the voters can know in advance of the election act the names of contributors and amounts contributed to the campaign of each candidate 95.

6. The Supreme Court shall be renewed by thirds every three years by a new election in the same three districts that correspond to the three outgoing judges. After the first nine elected judges of the Supreme Court, be determined by lot which three shall serve for three years, and what will make three to six years, to enable the partial renewal set forth in this inciso.96

7. In case of resignation, death or removal of a judge of the Supreme Court in the exercise of its mandate, it shall elect a new judge to complete the term of office in the district in which he was elected the outgoing judge . The Supreme Court judges who are still carrying out its mandate, will choose the citizen to act as judge on a temporary basis until the new elected judge takes. If the time who fails to complete the outgoing judge was less than two years, the judge elected provisionally by the judges of the Court who will complete the mandato.97

8. After leaving office, the outgoing judges may not hold any official position nor exert any gainful activity for a period of one year term during which continue to receive the full salary for the position of Judge of the Supreme Court.

9. The National Congress shall enact the law that determines the division into districts to elect the Judges of the Supreme Court, and will be the authority on everything pertaining to the elections.

Art 111. To be a member of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation without being a lawyer in the nation with fifteen years of practice, have the qualifications required to be senator of the district be natural to choose it or two years of residence or exercise of legal profession in it. Those who exercise such as judges, and intend to stand as candidates in elections for Supreme Court judge, they confer on leave until the end of the election act in the manner and terms established by law.

b) It should also repeal the first paragraph of Article 99, paragraph 4, which is what establishes the authority of President to appoint members of the Court, and exceptions to the judges of the Supreme Court of the Nation of new appointments system judges for 75 years that contains the third paragraph of subsection referred 98.

8. Control of the independent Supreme Court.

In the proposed system, since no court judges are appointed by the executive and legislative branches of the moment, we can rule that impeachment will have the motivation to cause the vacancy to be filled with judges themselves. Thus it is maintaining the institution of impeachment as a way to control the abuses which may be incurred by judges elected by the people, and underpins the system of balance intended by our Constitution.

9. Appointment of lower courts.

As the Supreme Court the final court of appeal and supreme interpreter of the Constitution, the central role it deserves in the system of checks and balances to declare the unconstitutionality of any rule affecting the Constitution, it is saved with the independence and impartiality gives the popular election of judges of the Court, as the decisions taken by lower courts in constitutional matters will only be temporary. This means you can keep a separate system of appointments to the Supreme Court judges in force for the lower courts, without affecting the balance system in the Constitution intended.

I do not propose to implement a system of electing judges at all levels, because it implies a major change in the amount of complex choices, and try such a change may undermine the viability of the judges of the Supreme Court suggested that is very simple, since it is only an election by district nine years, and the latter occurs it is essential. So I think you should keep the institution of the Judicial Council for the election of inferior judges.

I do not intend to address here the complex question of the Judicial Council, but simply outline the fact of having nine judges elected by the people can solve the main problem of this institution, which is the integration. The judges of the Court elected by the people can have a dual function, also integrating the Council of the Magistracy, so that the balance sought in art. 114 of the Constitution between the people's representatives and representatives of sectors concerned with justice, be achieved by replacing the 8 legislators and the executive branch representative members of the Council today, the nine Supreme Court judges are elected by the people who do not have the stigma of belonging to the other powers of gobierno.99

Over the years, we accumulate experience with the election of the judges of the Supreme Court will tell us the advantage of extending the system of choice for other judges.

10. Sum

In sum, I propose as a way to give the Judiciary true impartiality and independence of the establishment of the regime judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation by the direct vote of the people.

Thomas Jefferson said, in his later years, referring to the character of the judges of ultimate arbiters of constitutional questions, and understanding that it was too dangerous for judges were elected for life unaffected control elective town: "No know of no safe depository of these powers of last resort for the society but the people itself, and if we think that the people can not be enlightened enough to exercise that control with sound discernment, the remedy is not removed, but to inform their discernment with education. This is the real way to correct the abuse of constitutional powers. " 100

Reporting for education. That is the duty that we have lawyers in the election system proposed by the people.

The choice of their representatives in the judiciary will be only one more victory of the people, of that nation, which gave birth claiming "... the people's participation in the formation and direction of government of the country, what else very simple but common sense rules, only rational basis of any government of men ", as defined by Juan Bautista Alberdi to the principles of the revolution of May 1810 101.

The people are the sole right to elect their representatives, and including the sole right to be wrong.

That is democracy.

Ignacio Molina Posse

ignacioposse@gmail.com

(Comments are welcome) 102



[1] The judges choose the people's vote only in some cantons of Switzerland, a few municipal French magistrates in Peru (art. 152 of the Constitution of Peru and Law 27 539), justices of the peace in Venezuela (art . 258 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 1999), Justices of the Peace in Colombia (art. 247 of the Constitution of Colombia of 1991, and Act 497 of 1999) and "elected" in the former Soviet Union lower courts (Article 152 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union 1977). "Financing the 2000 elections", Ch. IX "Financing Judicial Elections," Roy A. Schotland, pag. 230 note 16, Ed David B. Magleby, The Brookings Institution 2002. Copies of this book at: http://www.brook.edu/gs/cf/financing2000/contents.htm

2 Statistics of the American Bar Association, ABA TASK FORCE REPORT, App.2. Court statistics project, caseload statistics, 1999-2000, National Center for State Courts, 2001. "Financing the 2000 election", Roy A. Schotland, Chapter 9, pg. 214, ob. Cit., But also "Improving judicial selection", "Call to action", The National Center for State Courts, introduction, 2002 (www.ncsconline.org) and "End Judicial elections", Committee for Economic Development, 2002 (www.ced . org).

3 are elected by direct popular vote the Supreme Court: Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and method of retention charges in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. American Judicature Society, "Judicial Selection Methods in the States", 2002. A summary of: www.ajs.org / selection / map.asp sel_state-select-

4 The Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica or also known as the "American Convention on Human Rights", to which have acceded to or ratified by 24 countries in Latin (www.oas.org) provides in Article 8 on judicial guarantees the right of every person to be heard by a judge or court "independent and impartial." Similar warranty contains the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 16, 1966, resolution 2200 (XXI), Article 14, paragraph 1, which entered into force on 23.3. 76. In these treaties gave them constitutional status in the art. 75, para. 22 of the Constitution, but lower grade than the provisions of Part I of the Constitution.

5 Japan has three powers separate and independent state, executive, legislative and judicial, being a figurehead emperor (ch. 1, art.1 of the Constitution of Japan) The governing body of the judiciary is the Supreme Court (Chapter . VI, art.76 Const. Jap.) empowered to declare the unconstitutionality of the law, ordinance, regulation or official (art.81 and 98 Const. Jap.). The executive branch appoints judges of the Supreme Court until the people in the next election of legislators to vote for or confirm the appointment. If people vote yes the judge exercised for ten years and may be reelected by the new vote of the people, if the majority of people voted for the removal, the judge is removed from office (art.79 CJ). Justices of Supreme Court judges draw up the list of proposed for the lower courts and the executive chooses an exercise of that list that for ten years (art. 80 CJ). The Constitution of Japan in Spanish can be found at: http://www.ugm.cl/pacifico/seminarios/const_japon.htm

6 Arts. 24, 75 inc. 12 and 118 of the Constitution in its current numbering (24, 67, and 102 in the inc.11, 1853).

7 Juan Bautista Alberdi, "Argentine Provincial Public Law", pg. 162, note to chapter III of the Judiciary of the Provincial Constitution Project, Argentina City Publishing, 1998.

8 Article No. 41 of the Constitution of 1853

9 Article No. 93 of the Constitution of 1853

10 "Base ...", op. cit., pg. 303, Article 94 of the Constitution proposed by Alberdi.

11 It requires a charge supported by the Chamber of Deputies (2 / 3 of members present, art. 53 CN), and the decision to issue two-thirds of the members present of the Senate (art. 59 CN) to remove one or all of the judges of the Supreme Court.

12 Article 91 in the numbering of the 1853 Constitution

13 On the occasion of the reform of 1860 in Buenos Aires convention proposed an amendment to establish the number of judges of the Court in four and a prosecutor. Ad hoc National Convention, meeting to decide on the changes proposed by Buenos Aires, rejected the amendment and gave the article its present form, without stating the reasons for the change, which were neither the nine judges of the 1853 Constitution, nor the four proposed by Buenos Aires. We followed the U.S. model of 1787 also provides for the number of judges of the Supreme Court. John A. González Calderón "Constitutional Law Course," pg. 556, ed. Depalma, Buenos Aires, 1994.

14 Act 27, art. 6, ADLA 1852-80, complement, pg. 354, Law 15,271, art. 1, ADLA XX-A, pg. 9, Law 16,895, art. 1, ADLA XXVI-B, pg. 776. We did not sanction the projects have increased the number of judges of the Court attempted by Frondizi, Illia and Alfonsín. "The Supreme Court. Between justice and politics without politics, without justice," Eduardo Oteiza, Ed Platense, Silver, 1994. See in this respect the critical commentary on the draft Raúl Alfonsín in 1987, made by Ricardo Levene (h) Act 1989-C, p.. 1297, Section doctrine.

15 In the first military coup of 1930, the Court developed the doctrine of de facto governments and recognized legitimacy to the rebels. In 1949 Perón submitted to the judges of the Court of impeachment and then each government had "their" Supreme Court. Only Illia, during his few years in office, the Supreme Court held that existed previously. Mariano Grondona, "Reality", pag. 160, ed. Planet, Buenos Aires, 2001.

16 Law 23,774, ADLA L-B, pag.1256.

17 "to court, the construction of an absolute power without justice and control", was titled a detailed and critical book written by Horacio Verbitsky recounting the brutal assault on the independence of the judiciary. Ed Planeta, 1993.

18 In 1853: 9 judges. In 1860: 5. In 1960: 7. In 1966: 5. In 1990: 9.

19 THE FEDERALIST, LXXVIII, pag. 331, ed. Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico 2001.

20 Constitution of the United States of America art. II, section 2, art. III, sec. Amendments 1 and 2 V, VI and VII.

21 Judiciary Act of 1789, U.S. Statutes at Large 1 (1789): 73.

22 Charles Evans Hughes, "The United States Supreme Court," chap. II, pg. 56, Ed Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico 1946.

23 Charles Evans Hughes, ditto note above, pag. 64.

24 Case "vs. Hepburn. Griswold" of February 7, 1870 (75 US603) or (8 Wallace 603)

25 Case: "Knox vs. Lee" December 1870 (79 U.S. 457) or (12 Wallace 457)

26 Charles Evans Hughes, "The Supreme Court of the United States," pg. 65.ob. cit.

27 Thomas G. Kienbaum, "Why do we elect Judge?" Michigan Bar Journal, October 1995, p.1000.

28 Thomas Jefferson referred in a letter to S. Kercheval of June 12, 1816 in Connecticut judges choosing the people came in almost two centuries. "The Letters of Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826)," GMW for the American Revolution, 1999.

29 Kermit Hall, "The Judiciary on Trial: State Constitutional Reform and the Rise of an Elected Judiciary 1846-1860", ed. The Historian 46 (1983) 337-339. Parts of this book can be found at: www.pbs.org / wgbh / pages / frontline / shows / justice / Howden / kermit.html

30 Paul D. Carrington, "Selecting Judges in North Carolina the 21st Century", The North Carolina State Bar Journal 7.1, 2001. www.ncbar.com/journal/journal_7, 1.asp

31 Roy A. Schotland, "Financing the 2000 election", pag. 217, ob. Cit. in Note 1.

32 Own calculation based on 1998 population statistics, excluding Puerto Rico, published by The National Center for State Court, "State Court caseload Statistics 1998", Appendix 4, pg. 229 and 230. Can be found at:

http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/csp/1998_Files/1998_Appendices.pdf

States are counted as not elect their judges of Connecticut, Maine, South Carolina, Vermont, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachsetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Virginia, although in the first four lower categories of judges chosen by popular vote. Roy. A Schotland, "Financing the 2000 election", pag.217, ob. cited in note 1.

33 Roger Warren, president of the "National Center for State Courts," "Judicial elections, past, present, future", Manhattan Institute, Conference series No. 6, 2001, pg. 35.

34 Frankling D. Roosevelt in 1937 sought to expand the number of Supreme Court judges to 15 with a clear intention to dominate the body. The Court throughout Roosevelt's first term had been declared unconstitutional 9 of the 11 basic laws that made the government plan, called "New Deal". Roosevelt's attempt succeeded in moderating the Court, but his plan was widely criticized amplifying and ultimately rejected by the legislature. Natural causes in 1941 Roosevelt had appointed seven of the nine justices of the Supreme Court. "Roosevelt and the Supreme Court", Katie Henry, 2001. An interesting critique of the era appeared in the newspaper "Washington Star" of February 10, 1937 can be found at:

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5091

35 "Free Trade and separation of powers", Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) and Charlotte Jackisch, Vol. 195/205, Ed Lumiere 2002.

Valentín Thury Cornejo 36 "Judge and Division of powers today," ed. City Argentina 2002, pag. 28/31 made these quotations from the First and Second Treatise on Government John Locke.

37 Montesquieu, "The Spirit of Laws", op. cit., pg. 192, Book XI, Chap. VI.

38 "The Federalist Papers" is a series of 85 articles published for referrals under the pseudonym Publius in various newspapers in New York between October 1787 and May 1788 (www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/federalist/)

39 Articles mentioned in the previous note were grouped in a book called "The Federalist, a commentary on the Constitution of the United States" published in 1788. I took the quote from the version translated into Spanish on "Federalism", XLVIII, pag. 210, Ed Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico 2001.

40 "Check and balances" is an expression in English., "The Role of Public Participation in the Access to Justice", Rafael Jimenez Asensio, Barcelona 2002.

41 HAMILTON, "Federalism", LXXVIII, pag.331, ob. cited.

42 The power to declare a law unconstitutional, present in the writings of Hamilton, was first used in the famous case "Marbury c / Madison" U.S. Supreme Court 1803 - 5 U.S. (1 Cr) 137. Background to the power of the king to annul the act of art. 55 of the constitution of 1215 and the decision of Sir Edward Coke, 1622 that appointed President of the Court developed the concept of judicial review and the declaration of nullity of an act of parliament. "Free Trade and separation of powers", Alberto Benegas Lynch (h) and Charlotte Jackish, pag.197 and 199 ed.Lumiere, 2002.

43 Juan Bautista Alberdi, "Argentine Provincial Public Law", op. cit. , Pag. 75.

44 Charles Evans Hughes, 1907: "We are under a Constitution, But the Constitution is what the Judges say it is". "The autobiographical notes of Charles Evans Hughes", ed. Danelski & Tulchin, Cambridge University Press, 1973, pg. 144 speech of May 3, 1907.

45 "Justice and State," Eduardo Rafael Bielsa and Grana, pag. 161, Oxford City Argentina, 1996.

46 Anthony M. Kennedy, president of the U.S. Supreme Court, "Why Independence judicial matters", 2002, www.justiceatstake.org

47 "selection, nomination and appointment of judges in America," report prepared by the Reference Section of the Lincoln Center; quote from R. Bielsa and E. Grain "Justice and State," pg. 671, note 156, op. cited.

48 Carlos Colautti, "Constitutional Law", pg. 310, Ed University, BA, 1998.

49 "The Judiciary", José Roberto Dromi, pag. 117 "functional instability", Ed Ciudad Argentina, 1996. Except for the three years of government of Arturo Illia (1963-1966), the two years of the Antonio De la Rua (1999/2001) and Eduardo Duhalde current (2002/03).

50 Survey of the New Majority Studies Center, published in The Nation of 18.9.02, p.. 12, sect. Culture, indicates that the positive image of the judiciary was 19% in 1992, 8% in 2000, and fell to 1% in 2002. The survey Institutional Research International Consultant-Analogies September 2002 allocated a positive image to the Supreme Court Justice and the National 4%, published in The Nation 10.20.02, p.1.

Demoskopie 51 Survey and Study Center for the new majority, cited by H. Verbitsky, "Shaping the Court ...", op. cit. pag. 15.

52 Survey Associates Catterberg October 2002. Published in the newspaper The Nation 9.10.02, pg. 7

53 Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, op. cit., Book XI, chap. VI, pg. 189.

54 The Federalist, LI, pag. 220, ob. cit., text attributed to Madison or Hamilton.

55 The Federalist, LI, pag. 220, ob. cit., text attributed to Madison or Hamilton.

56 Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, pag. 335, LXXVIII, ob. cit.

57 The Federalist, LI, pag. 220, ob. cit., text attributed to Hamilton or Madison.

58 It was Hamilton who proposed this formula for the appointment of judges by the President with consent of the Senate, which was rejected twice by the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787, and accepted on his third attempt. "Comparing Judicial Selection Sistems." Lee Epstein, Jack Knight and Olga Sheysova, introduction. Paper prepared for a conference at the Washington University School of Law, November 2001 (http://law.wustl.edu/igls/Conconfpapers/Epsteinetal.pdf.)

59 The Federalist, LI, pag. 220, ob. cit., Text attributed to Hamilton or Madison.

60 Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval of 12.7.1816. "The letters of Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826," GMW for the American Revolution, 1999.

61 Letter from Thomas Jefferson to William Charles Jarvis September 18, 1820, "Writings of Thomas Jefferson," vol. 10, pag. 161, ed. Paul Leicester Ford, New York, 1899.

62 Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval of 12.7.1816. "The letters of Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826," GMW for the American Revolution, 1999.

63 "A Re-Evaluation of the Scholarly Explanations for the Rise of the Elective Judiciary in Antebellum America", Caleb Nelson, "The American journal of legal history", April 1993.

64 Same as previous note.

65 Same as previous note

66 "The Judiciary on Trial: State Constitutional Reform and Rise of an Elected Judiciary 1846-1869", Kermit Hall, "The Historian" 46 (1983) pg. 337-354.

67 Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentina Provincial Public Law, pg. 162, ob. cit.

68 "The American Judicature Society" has made a detailed analysis, state by state, the system of electing judges, its history, current affairs and reforms made or attempted, "Judicial Selection in the States" (www.ajs.org/js/ ). Unarecopilación simpler can be seen in (www.ajs.org / selection / sel_state-select-map.asp), also on site www.justiceatstake.org association that struggle for equal justice and denounces the campaign overspending (Which States hold judicial elections).

69. In this method of choice is called "Missouri plan" (as it was this state who first adopted it in 1940) "Merit Plan" or "Merit Selection" (for the selection of judges is made by a committee that evaluates merits of the judge who is appointed), or "Retention election" (as the participation of the people to vote if the judge is retained or not the position for which he was named) has been the plan backed by "The American Bar Association" which is the most important entity of the U.S. attorneys and the "American Judicature Society." "Judicial Selection in the United States" by Larry Berkson, "Judicature," vol. 64, No. 4, can be seen in (www.ajs.org). Also "Justice and State," Eduardo Rafael Bielsa and Grana, pag. 669, ed. Ciudad Argentina, Buenos Aires, 1996. This method had its heyday from 1940 to 1987, which spread to several states. From 1987 he was rejected every state referendum in which it sought to impose.

70 "Mac Arthur's Vision and the Reality or the Japanese Judicial System", Nicholas Rezanof Rinard, 2000 (www.dartmouth.edu), John O. Haley, "Law and Society in Contemporary Japan". Japanese American Society for Legal Studies, Ed Kendal-Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa, 1988, "Institutional Arrangements", information of Argentina Embassy in Japan, 2003, can be seen in www.embargentina.or.jp / info / instituc.html

71 The idea that judicial candidates appear on the ballot without partisan attachment or belonging to any party was born in 1873 in a county of Chico, Illinois, and was the brainchild of a group of judges who decided to run without requiring support supporter. Larry Berkson, "Judicial selection in the United States: a special report", Judicature, The Journal of the American Judicature Society, Volume 64, Issue 4, October 1980, pages 176-193.

72 have elections "nonpartisan" to all levels of judges states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin, and for some levels of judges states: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, and Okahoma. Roy A. Schotland, "Financing Judicial Elections," pg. 217, ob. Cited in note No. 1.

73 "Judicial Elections, past, present, future", Manhattan Institute, Conference Series No. 6, pg. 39/46/47, New York 2001. (Www.manhattan-institute.org)

74 (www.ajs.org / js / OH_history.htm) and Roy A. Schotland, "Financing Judicial Elections," chap. 9, pg. 225. work cited in note No. 1.

75 (www.ajs.org / js / FL.htm), pag. 1.

76 The reform was known as "Amendment No. 80 of 2000," www.ajs.org / js / AR_history.htm

77 www.ajs.org / js / NC.htm, p. 4, 2001.

78 Called "The Chief Justices' Summit" in December 2000, Roy A. Schotland, "Financing Judicial Elections, 2000," pg. 225, ob. Cited in note No. 1.

79 "Judicial Elections, Past, Present & Future", pag. 35, op. cited.

80 "Improving Judicial Selection", "Call to Action", The National Center for State Courts, introduction, 2002. (Www.ncsc.dni.us). Also "End judicial elections" for economic Commitee Devolopment, 2002 (www.ced.org)

81 "Base ...", pg. 65 and 283, op. cited.

82 "will be few men in every society sufficiently versed in matters of law to be qualified for judicial office," Alexander Hamilton, 28.5.1788, "The Federalist", No. 78, pg. 335, ob. cit.

Adolfo Saldías 83, "History of the Confederation Argentina", volume 1, chap. X, pag. 238, Ed Lajouane Felix, Buenos Aires, 1892.

84 128 000 registered attorneys in 2000. "Justice in figures" (www.justiciaargentina.gov.ar / stats / datosconsolidados.htm), based on statistics from the Federation of Bar Associations Argentina.

85 Charles Evans Hughes, "The Supreme Court of the United States," ed. Economic Culture Fund of Mexico, 1946, pg. 36.

86 The quotation is from Montesquieu to describe the political system of ancient Greece, "The Spirit of Laws", op. Cit., Book II, chap. II, pg. 57. Solon was a lawgiver of Athens, one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

87 (www.ciudadanosporelcambio.org) had collected 175,000 signatures to 24.10.02.

88 An example of the division into districts, each would choose a judge, could be: 1. Buenos Aires City (pop. 3,040,292) 2. Buenos Aires Province (13,879,575) 3. Córdoba (3,027,113) 4. Santa Fe ((3,038,867) 5. WATERFRONT, Misiones, Corrientes and Entre Rios (2942801) 6. GREAT WHICH: Mendoza, San Juan, San Luis and La Rioja (2751425) 7. MEDITERRANEA: Santiago del Estero, Chaco and Formosa (2126748) 8. NORTHWEST: Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca (3,176,479); 9.PATAGONICA: La Pampa, Neuquén, Rio Black, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego , Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (pop. 2,141,631). Population figures taken from Census 1998 (INDEC). Adapted from regionalization project.

89 6-year term for judges of the Supreme Court of Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington, at the other extreme is New York 14 (NY State Constitution, Art. VI, sec . 2 a.) being the terms of 8 and 10 years the most common.

90 The determination that requires the matching of five members vote to issue a ruling is intended to prevent issues related to the inner workings of the Court, so you never see a fault where it has been resolved by majority vote of only three















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