The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) declared constitutional the organic nature of the Organic Law of Mines (LOM), sanctioned by the National Assembly on April 9. This was established in ruling No. 0463 of April 10, published by the TSJ on its website.
According to article 203 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (CRBV), “any law that claims to have organic status must be previously sent to the Constitutional Chamber to verify that character before its promulgation.”
In its decision, the highest court considered that the LOM meets this requirement, as it is a “framework law” on mineral resources – in accordance with articles 12, 156 and 302 of the Constitution – and for developing constitutional rights.
However, the ruling highlights an obvious contradiction with what happened recently with the reform of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law, warns the NGO Acceso a la Justicia.
In that case, the Constitutional Chamber did not issue any ruling on the maintenance of the organic nature of the reform, despite the fact that article 203 of the CRBV requires prior control also for the modifications that seek to preserve that status.
This omission has been classified as a fundamental irregularity, since the reform was published directly in the Official Gazette No. 6,978 Extraordinary of January 29, without complying with the prior constitutional control required for its validity.
The decision of the Constitutional Chamber on the Mining Law formally reinforces the procedure established in the Constitution for organic laws, but reveals a selective application of constitutional norms regarding prior control of organic laws.
