Título II. Funciones del Organismo Judicial

The Judicial Branch, in exercise of the sovereignty delegated by the people, administers justice in accordance with the Political Constitution of the Republic and the values and norms of the country's legal system.

To fulfill its objectives, the Judicial Branch is not subject to any subordination to any body or authority, only to the Political Constitution of the Republic and the laws. It has jurisdictional and administrative functions, which shall be performed with total independence from any other authority. The jurisdictional functions of the Judicial Branch correspond fundamentally to the Supreme Court of Justice and to the other tribunals subordinate to it under the rules of jurisdiction by reason of degree. The administrative functions of the Judicial Branch correspond to the Presidency of said Branch and to the directorates and administrative dependencies subordinate to said Presidency.

The organs that make up the Judicial Branch shall have the functions conferred on them by the Political Constitution of the Republic, the laws and the regulations, as well as those assigned to them by other laws.

The Judicial Branch shall be administered by the Supreme Court of Justice and the President of the Judicial Branch, in accordance with their respective powers.

The administrative attributions of the Supreme Court of Justice are:

a)To be the superior organ of the administration of the Judicial Branch.

b)To inform the Congress of the Republic, sufficiently in advance of the date on which the period for which the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and of the Courts of Appeals were elected expires, as well as of the vacancies that occur, for the convocation of the Nominating Commission referred to in the Political Constitution of the Republic.

c)To take from the Magistrates and Judges the oath to administer prompt and complete justice, prior to the discharge of their functions.

d)To appoint, exchange, transfer, promote, grant leaves to, impose sanctions on and remove Judges; as well as the Secretaries and auxiliary personnel of the tribunals corresponding to it. The removal of a judge is appropriate: when conduct incompatible with the dignity inherent in the judicature is observed; when the Supreme Court, by vote agreed by absolute majority of all its members, deems that the continuance of the judge in the exercise of his office is inadvisable for the administration of justice; and in cases of flagrant crime.

The suspension of judges shall be ordered for periods not exceeding thirty days, in order to proceed to investigate conduct of the judge in question when such conduct is suspected of negligence, illegality, except in the case of antejuicio.

e)To request from the Congress of the Republic the removal of the Magistrates of the Court of Appeals and other collegiate tribunals, for the same causes, in the same form and under the same conditions in which the removal of Judges is appropriate. The Congress of the Republic shall decide in ordinary session on the removal requested of it, in the same form and procedure as when election is made.

f)To issue the regulations, agreements and executive orders corresponding to it in accordance with the law, in matters of the jurisdictional functions entrusted to the Judicial Branch, as well as with respect to the development of the activities conferred upon it by the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and this Law. Regulations and agreements must be published in the official gazette.

g)To approve the Budget of Income and Expenditures of the Judicial Branch, thirty days before the commencement of its validity, having to inform the Congress of the Republic thereof; it shall be annual, coinciding with the fiscal year. It may modify the originally approved Budget for reasons of convenience to the service of administration of justice that it is obliged to provide. It may establish mechanisms to expedite budgetary execution, for the prompt and complete administration of justice.

h)To ensure that the conduct of Judges and Magistrates is that corresponding to the functions they perform and for that purpose to issue disciplinary measures or decisions.

i)To grant leave to the President for up to two months; to the Magistrates of the same Tribunal when it exceeds fifteen days; and likewise to the other Magistrates when it exceeds thirty days. In special cases such time may be extended at the discretion of the Supreme Court of Justice. Leaves for shorter periods shall be granted by the President.

j)To exercise the legislative initiative, by formulating bills.

k)To assign to each Chamber of the Court of Appeals the Tribunals of First Instance whose judicial matters it is to hear.

l)To distribute the offices of the Magistrates who are to compose each collegiate tribunal, upon being elected.

m)When it deems it advisable or at the request of an interested party, to request a report on the progress of the administration of justice and, if appropriate, to issue disciplinary measures or measures of another nature that are pertinent.

n)To establish fees and rates for the administrative services that may be provided.

ñ)To establish dynamic notification systems in the branches and territories indicated by the respective agreement, in order to expedite procedures and effect notifications within the time limit established by law.

o)To organize systems for the receipt of claims for the branches and territories indicated in the corresponding agreement, in order to guarantee an equitable distribution of work among the respective tribunals. Distribution shall be made within 24 hours of receipt of the claim.

p)Such others as are assigned to it by other laws.

The attributions of the President of the Judicial Branch are:

a)To appoint, exchange, transfer, promote, grant leaves, impose sanctions and dismiss the public officials and administrative employees that correspond to him or her.

b)To issue agreements, circulars, instructions and orders. Any provision of general observance of the Judicial Branch shall be published in the official gazette.

c)To request reports on the progress of the administration of justice.

d)To authenticate the signatures of the public officials of the Judicial Branch and of notaries when applicable.

e)To be the executing body of the budget of the Judicial Branch; to ensure the adequate programming and realization of the investment of its financial resources; to approve any civil, commercial or administrative contract, regardless of its amount or duration, he or she may sign or designate the public official who is to sign the respective contracts.

f)To sign the expenditure documents affecting items of the budget of the Judicial Branch, which shall be done without delay.

g)To process and decide the settlement of commutations when applicable, as well as to effect the relaxation of the penalties when the requirements demanded by the Criminal Code or other laws concur.

h)To exercise, grant or delegate the representation of the Judicial Branch in the purchases and procurements in which it participates, in accordance with the formalities that the law establishes for such negotiations.

i)To impose sanctions.

j)To agree on the administrative organization for the adequate and effective administration of the Judicial Branch.

k)To be the body of communication with the other State Bodies.

l)To issue the order of liberty for the inmates who have served their sentences of deprivation of liberty.

m)To order the transfer and distribution of the inmates sentenced to liberty-depriving penalties.

n)To exercise the superior direction of the personnel of the Judicial Branch.

ñ)To enter into, by himself or herself or through the employee or public official he or she designates, the contracts related to the administration of justice service.

o)Any others necessary or advisable for a good and effective administration, even if not specified in this or other laws.

p)Under his or her supervision, to partially and/or specifically delegate to one or more Magistrates or public officials of the Judicial Branch his or her administrative attributions, to revoke such delegations. Such delegations do not imply that the President is precluded from directly exercising the delegated attributions if he or she deems it advisable.

q)To create the administrative dependencies required by the provision of the administration of justice service; likewise, he or she may provide for the organizational structure of the administration of the Branch.

Supervising the tribunals of the Republic is a function of the Presidency of the Judicial Branch and each tribunal shall also exercise it with respect to those of lower grade that are directly subordinate to it. In the exercise of this supervision function, the President of the Judicial Branch may designate, by public or private appointment, the personnel necessary to exercise it. He may also commission a magistrate or judge to inspect a specific tribunal or file.

To perform this function of supervising the tribunals, the President of the Judicial Branch shall have as a specific dependency the General Supervision of Tribunals, entrusted to a General Supervisor and to such other personnel as in the judgment of the Presidency is necessary, in addition to which he may require the collaboration of practicing lawyers.

Supervision shall be carried out by means of inspection visits which shall be made to all the tribunals, periodically, to obtain direct information on the course of business, on matters relating to the prompt and full administration of justice, on the manner in which the tribunals are attended to by the incumbents and employees and the conduct they observe, for which purpose the public officials or employees who exercise supervision may hear directly the judges, secretaries and auxiliaries of the administration of justice, as well as lawyers and private individuals.

In addition, supervision shall be carried out on pending files and on closed files, to determine the correct and full administration of justice, the competence and promptness of the judges and magistrates in the exercise of their functions, the impartiality with which the judicial matters brought before them are handled, and the observance of the time limits and essential formalities of the proceedings.

When dealing with closed files, the Presidency of the Judicial Branch may establish commissions of lawyers of recognized prestige to render opinions thereon, and for such purpose may require the collaboration of the Bar Association of Lawyers and Notaries in the formation of qualifying commissions.

The public official or employee who carries out supervision activities shall draw up the records and formulate the pertinent recommendations. When such recommendations are to impose sanctions on the supervised public official or employee, the records shall be sent, in certified copy, to the Presidency of the Judicial Branch, so that the latter, as applicable, may directly impose sanctions for the misconduct, request from the Supreme Court of Justice the issuance of the respective suspension or removal order, or promote the request to the Congress of the Republic for removal of the magistrate where applicable.

In the exercise of its functions, the General Supervision of Tribunals shall have the broadest powers of investigation, * in which case all acts it performs to carry out the same are exempt from any type of criminal and civil liability. If as a result thereof the commission of a criminal act were presumed, the corresponding complaint shall be made to the competent tribunals.

The President of the Judicial Branch may issue the decisions and administrative and disciplinary provisions that may be necessary; and, in addition, shall regulate, by means of agreement, everything related to the Supervision of Tribunals.

If complaints are filed regarding the manner in which a file is processed, or regarding the conduct of the members of a tribunal, the General Supervision of Tribunals shall directly investigate the complaint, without limiting its action to requesting that the file be transferred to it or that a report be submitted to it.