Two Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) judges have addressed requests made from several quarters calling for the retirement of judges who have reached the age of 70, according to Listin Diario. The Judicial Career Law establishes that these judges should resign from their posts. The President of the Criminal Chamber of the SCJ, Hugo Alvarez Valencia, said that the request responds to the interest of having politicians appointed to the high court instead of independent judges. Judge Julio Ibarra Rios said the guarantee of an independent Judicial Branch depends upon the immobility of judges. Although he stated that he was not concerned about his own stay in the court, Ibarra Rios said the immobility of judges is a principle that has been supported by a long tradition of intellectuals, such as Eugenio Maria de Hostos, and also that it is a constitutional principle adopted in the 1994 reform. Recently, Fundacion Institucionalidad y Justicia warned that SCJ judge Pedro Romero turned 70 years old on 4 August 2005 and that according to the law, he should resign from his post. When referring to the issue, SCJ President Jorge Subero Isa stated that the court would be reviewing the status of some judges in January 2006, including Romero.
El Caribe reports that Hugo Alvarez Valencia claims that political sectors want him removed from the court because he does not accept pressure from anyone and acts only according to his conscience.
Diario Libre observes that Alvarez Valencia is 82 years old.