Rigging the Rule of Law:
Judicial Independence Under Siege in Venezuela

I. Summary

Main Recommendations

II. International Norms on Judicial Independence

The OAS and the Inter-American Democratic Charter
International Human Rights Treaties

III. Background

The Judiciary’s Disreputable Past
Declaring a Judicial Emergency
Political Polarization under Chávez

IV. Disposable Judges

Provisional Judgeships
Judges Summarily Fired
Second Highest Court Shut Down

V. Separation of Powers Under Assault

Power to pack the court
Power to purge the court
Implications for the referendum

VI. Recommendations

To President Hugo Chávez Frías
To the Supreme Court
To international lending agencies
To the Organization of American States

VII. Acknowledgements

Vol. 16, No. 3(B)   June 2004

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