MundoAndino Home : Andes Chile Guide at Mundo Andino
Supreme Court of Chile
The Supreme Court of Chile is the highest court in Chile. It also administrates the lower courts in the nation.
In the Chilean system, the court lacks the broader power of judicial review -- it cannot set binding precedent or invalidate laws. Instead, it acts on a case-by-case basis.
Trials are carried out in salas, chambers of at least five judges, presided over by the most senior member.
Membership
The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President, but must be chosen from a list of five choices which is prepared by the sitting members of the court. Two of these choices must be senior judges from appellate courts; the other three need not have any judicial experience. The president's choice must then be ratified by the Senate.
Supreme Court justices must be at least 36 years old. Once appointed, a Chilean Supreme Court justice is extremely difficult to remove from office. Justices are entitled to remain on the Court until the compulsory retirement age of 75. Otherwise, a justice can be removed only if he or she breaches the obligation of "good behaviour" established in the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has twenty-one members, called ministros. One member is selected to serve a three-year term as President of the Supreme Court.
Current Supreme Court members
Enrique Edmundo Tapia Witting (President)
Marcos Libedinsky Tschorne
Ricardo Fernando Galvez Blanco
Alberto Anibal Chaigneau del Campo
Orlando Antonio Alvarez Hernandez
Urbano Marin Vallejo
Milton Ivan Juica Arancibia
Nibaldo Segura Pena
Adalis Salvador Oyarzun Miranda
Jaime del Carmen Rodriguez Espoz
Ruben Alberto Ballesteros Carcamo
Sergio Manuel Munoz Gajardo
Margarita Eliana Herreros Martinez
Hugo Enrique Dolmestch Urra
Juan Araya Elizalde
Raul Patricio Valdes Aldunate
Hector Guillermo Carreno Seaman
Pedro Pierry Arrau
Vacant (after compulsory retirement of Maria Antonia Morales Villagran on September 2006 after attaining the age of 75)
Vacant
Vacant (after compulsory retirement of Jorge Humberto Medina Cuevas on March 2007 after attaining the age of 75)
Notable decisions
Augusto Pinochet
The Chilean Supreme Court has been involved in many important human rights cases regarding the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
In July 2002, it dismissed a case against Pinochet, saying that he was unfit to stand trial due to dementia.
In August 2004, it confirmed a lower court's decision that Pinochet should lose his automatic immunity he acquired from being a former senator.
In March 2005, it reversed a lower court's decision stripping Pinochet of immunity in the case of the assassination of Carlos Prats.
In August 2007, it upheld a life sentence for Hugo Salas Wenzel, the first senior official to receive a life term for human rights violations conducted during the reign of Pinochet. [*]
Gay rights
The Chilean Supreme Court has made controversial decisions in the area of gay rights.
In 2004, it confirmed a lower court's decision that stripped former judge Karen Atala of custody of her three daughters because she is a lesbian. The case has been taken up by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In January 2004, it removed judge Daniel Calvo from his position on the Santiago Court of Appeals, after media reports that he visited a sauna frequented by gay men.
Abortion
In November 2005, the Chilean Supreme Court ruled that the sale of contraceptive morning-after pill Postinor 2 is constitutional. Abortion is banned in Chile.
Alberto Fujimori
On September 21 2007, the court accepted Peru's request to extradite former president Alberto Fujimori, on human rights and corruption charges.
External links
Chilean Judiciary website (in Spanish)
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Government of Chile or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Supreme Court of Chile
