What is a constitutional charge? The commitment of the political class to confront the crisis of the judicial power

Before the publishing conversations among the main accused in the Audio Affair, Luis Hermosilla and the Minister of the Supreme Court, Angela Vivanco which account for the efforts and favors that the magistrate made to the lawyer, various parliamentarians reacted by raising constitutional charges (AC) .

In a few weeks it was decided to present three ACs against the ministers of the Supreme Court: Ángela Vivanco, Sergio Munoz And Jean-Pierre Matus .

It is an attribution exclusive of the Chamber of Deputies whose purpose is to control the acts of the Government and which includes a series of stages:

• First, to introduce yourself, you need the support of a minimum of 10 deputies and a maximum of 20.
• Once formulated, a commission of five deputies chosen at random will be formed, which will be responsible for assess the bases that support it and to convene the parties to present their points of view.
• The commission will prepare a report which will be presented to the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies who will decide whether the accusation is admissible or not.
• Ultimately, if he makes it through Congress, he will be the Senate the one who will act like jury on a public official who is persecuted

If the air conditioner is approve the accused revokes him and disqualifies him from holding public office for five years . At the same time, the file of the case is transmitted to the public prosecutor, who will determine whether it is criminal case .

Article 52 of Constitution establishes that members of Congress can file complaints against:

• The President of the Republic: for acts compromising the honor or security of the country or breaking the law.
• Ministers of State: for the same reasons as the President and/or for misuse of public funds, corruption, treason and concussion.
• Magistrates of the highest courts of justice and Comptroller General of the Republic: for abandonment of functions.
• Generals or admirals of the armed forces: for actions endangering honor and national security.
• Mayors, governors and authorities representing the government of Easter Island or the Juan Fernández Archipelago: for violation of the Constitution, treason, embezzlement of public funds or concussion.

The researcher from the Center for Constitutional Justice at the University of Development, Gaspar Jenkins, explains that the “notable neglect of duties” that the Constitution establishes as grounds for accusing judges is a concept undetermined Well, it’s not a crime in itself, but a almost political assessment what parliamentarians do.

“As a general rule, recourse to this cause is linked to the serious breach constitutional norms such as, for example, what currently happens in the event of influence peddling “, said. Therefore, each AC that appears in the current crisis of probity facing the judiciary responds to different reasons depending on the case.

The ruling party and the Christian Democrats presented two separate ACs: the first addressed to Minister Jean Pierre Matus and the second to Ángela Vivanco.

Alone, the opposition filed a joint complaint against Ángela Vivanco and Sergio Muñoz.

Minister Mario Carroza, for his part, found himself out of danger after opposition deputies reversed course this Wednesday and ruled out the presentation of a CA against him.

The last time a constitutional charge led to the removal of a member of the Supreme Court was in 1993 when Judge Hernán Cereceda left office after being accused of abandonment of functions by the then Concertación deputies.

Years later, in 2001 former Minister of the Supreme Court, Luis Correa, was suspended from office for four months by decision of his own peers, who ended up removing him from office for ethical violations that same year.