Overview
- Janet Tello issued the warning at the opening of the International Congress of Courts of Justice, a gathering of high court authorities from across Latin America.
- She said attempts to instrumentalize the justice system seek partisan or private gains by securing impunity or discrediting political rivals.
- Tello tied the pressure on courts to organized crime and illegal economies, including money laundering, narcotrafficking, extortion, human trafficking, and illegal resource extraction.
- Reaffirming judicial autonomy, she said magistrates answer only to the Constitution and the law and urged institutional modernization, career safeguards, and stronger training and evaluation for judges.
- At the congress, Tello and counterparts from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Panama signed the Lima Declaration, pledging to defend judicial independence and improve public-facing communication to bolster legitimacy.