Supreme Court Judge Eugenio Zaffaroni (photo courtesy of Ariel Darder)
Supreme Court Judge Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni has submitted his resignation letter to President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, effective 31st December.
Zaffaroni had previously announced his intention to resign from his post in 2015, as he will turn 75 on 7th January. The judge cited “legal reasons” for his resignation, as the 1994 Constitution states that Supreme Court judges must retire at age 75, unless they receive a five-year extension by the Senate.
The judge added, in the letter, that his decision was also supported by “reasons of ethics and personal convictions”. “I can’t hide that, in the last few months, I feel like my work in this [judicial] Power is done, together with the urgency to get back to academic activity,” said Zaffaroni.
He also believes, as stated in the letter to the president, that life tenures are more suited to “monarchic systems, and therefore less compatible with republican principles.”
After the deaths of judges Carmen Argibay and Enrique Petracchi earlier this year —who were not replaced— the Supreme Court decreased its members from seven to five, as per a 2006 law. With Zaffaroni’s resignation, the Court will be down to four members next year, and a new judge will be appointed by the executive with the agreement of two thirds of the Senate.
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