Buenos Aires, December 25 (NA)— The Women's Network for Justice, along with Amnesty International, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the GQUAL Campaign, rejected the proposal by the governor of Santa Fe to nominate two male candidates and one woman for vacancies in the provincial Supreme Court. They consider this a violation of the principle of gender equality and the right to inclusive representation of women in the Judiciary, according to the Argentine News Agency.
The organizations pointed out that if the nominations sent to the Legislature are approved, the highest court in Santa Fe would be made up of five men and only two women, which contradicts the parity mandate recently incorporated into the provincial Constitution.
The criticism came after the provincial Executive issued a decree on December 17 that formally initiated the process to fill three vacancies in a seven-member court.
As the entities warned, this requirement reinforces a constitutional and conventional mandate that already existed in Santa Fe, such as Decree No. 18/2007 and the Organic Law of the Judiciary (Law No. 10.160, with article 11 bis incorporated in 2020).
Historical Underrepresentation of Women
In over 130 years of history, the Supreme Court of Santa Fe has only had two female judges.
With the citizen participation process still open and the legislative agreement pending, they urged the Executive Branch to review its decision and the Legislature to enforce the recent constitutional mandate.
In this context, the organizations warned that the official proposal not only ignores recent normative advances but also violates the National Constitution and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
“The principle of parity is not exhausted in minimum quotas, but implies a full and equal distribution of power (50/50),” they recalled, citing the standards of the CEDAW Committee, which considers parity a central legal principle of good governance.
A Call to Review the Decision
The entities emphasized that the highest court must be composed of individuals with legal competence, a commitment to judicial independence, human rights, and an active stance against any form of gender discrimination.
