MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean Supreme Court Justice Vivanco suspended for ties to corruption scandal

The process for Vivanco's permanent removal is now underway

Chile's Supreme Court Monday suspended Justice Ángela Vivanco from her bench after she was found to be linked to a corruption case. In the meantime, the process for her permanent dismissal has been triggered. Vivanco may not be the only magistrate to lose her job to the scandal.

After examining telephone call records, it was established that Vivanco conferred with criminal attorney Luis Hermosilla, who has been arraigned for money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion in what became known locally as the “audios case” involving a large number of former government officials, politicians, and businessmen.

Vivanco was appointed to her bench in 2018 under late President Sebastián Piñera. Facing a similar investigation is fellow Supreme Court Justice Jean Pierre Matus, although Vivanco's acts would amount to influence peddling, it was explained.

Justice Minister Luis Cordero also pointed out that these crimes openly compromise the independence and impartiality of the Judiciary, while Presidential Communications Secretary Camila Vallejo admitted that Chile ranked among the Latin American countries where judges have the lowest of reputations and are famous for dodging the parte whereby everyone should be equal before the law.

The 61-year-old Vivanco is a lawyer from the Catholic University who became the youngest Supreme Court Justice ever at the time of her appointment. Having performed the duties of the Court's spokesperson, Vivanco had to give up that role in June following a series of controversial statements.

Vivanco's short-lived venture into politics led her to focus on her academic career holding key positions at Law Schools at the Catholic and Santo Tomás Universities.

In addition to Vivanco and Matus, the spotlight is also on Justice Sergio Muñoz, who is now under investigation by the Court's Ethics Committee. While Vivanco's fate seems to be inevitable, those of Matus and Muñoz seem to be dependent on the outcome of the first process. At any rate, the case against them is so intricate that nothing can be proven on either of them without dragging down the other. According to local media, Muñoz is said to have leaked confidential data to his daughter and lower court Judge Graciel Muñoz, whose investments in a real estate project reportedly raised doubts regarding her father's impartiality.