The nomination committee scheduled the formation of the list of six candidates for next Friday for attorney generalbut the criteria under which it evaluates the applicants prior to the integration of the list could be subject to unresolved legal actions, as an amparo presented before the Constitutional Court (CC).
No less than two amparos question the candidate for attorney general for allowing the participation of candidates who, allegedly, do not comply with the requirements of the law.
The first action was presented in the CC by Raúl Falla, lawyer for the Fundación Contra el Terrorismo; the second, filed by the Center for the Defense of the Constitution (Cedecon) in the Auxiliary Services Center of the Judicial Branch (OJ).
Analysts have pointed out that it is urgent to clarify the legal path that the nomination commission must follow before the list of six candidates for attorney general is formed. This has been one of the great challenges that, in the immediate future, they identify for the new CC, mainly for its president, Anabella Morfín.
The judge, due to her position as president of the Court, has the power to convene a plenary session and propose the agenda, which focuses attention on her at this time, less than 48 hours before the postulator prepares to make the list of the six candidates for attorney general.
The two protections, both the one found in the CC and the one in the OJ, expose the risk that the candidate is not evaluating the requirements of the aspiring attorney general as she should.
Specifically, what is related to professional practice, which requires at least one period as a judge of the Court of Appeals or a court of equal category, or 10 years of practice as a lawyer.
The question that the amparos seek to clarify is whether the years of experience as a trial judge can be counted as years of practicing law and notary practice. A topic that has generated debate among the postulator since last Monday.
Unanswered
To clarify the rules of the attorney general renewal process, prior to the payroll being drawn up, three magistrates of the new CC sent a note to President Morfín.
The letter signed by Roberto Molina Barreto, Dina Ochoa and Julia Rivera, requests that the protection they have against the postulator be known, in order to guarantee legal certainty in the work of the commission.
But so far President Morfín has not responded to the three magistrates and there are no plenary sessions called for this week, according to the CC’s electronic portal.
In his speech, Morfín emphasized that the ninth magistrate will do objective work, seeking to restore credibility before the population and ensuring that constitutional justice is prompt.
This Thursday, the candidate for attorney general will evaluate the last candidates and it is expected that they will be summoned for Friday, April 17, in order to vote and integrate the list of the six candidates that will be sent to President Bernardo Arévalo, who must make the appointment for the period 2026-2030.
Anabella Morfín’s first challenge as president of the new @CC_Guatemala is to respond to a request from 3 titular magistrates who ask to know about a protection related to the candidate for Attorney General. The action seeks to define whether the judges are suitable or not to be candidates pic.twitter.com/hoJq7I5WVJ
—Douglas Cuevas (@dcuevas_pl) April 14, 2026
