The Constitutional Court will review petitions related to the change of leadership at the Attorney General's Office of Guatemala.

Archive photo for illustrative purposes: Magistrates of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala will review petitions challenging the process of electing and appointing Gabriel García Luna as the Attorney General of Guatemala. (Congress of the Republic of Guatemala) The future of the Public Ministry in Guatemala is at stake this Tuesday, May 12, when the Constitutional Court will analyze a series of key petitions seeking to halt or reverse the appointment of Gabriel Estuardo García Luna as head of the organization, a nomination promoted by President Bernardo Arévalo. The resolutions adopted by the plenary session will have a direct impact on the transfer of power scheduled for Sunday, May 17, and maintain legal and institutional stability in the country in suspense, according to the agenda published by various national media outlets. Five of the fourteen cases scheduled for Tuesday's session are expressly linked to questioning the process of renewing the leadership of the Public Ministry, Guatemalan media detail. The legal actions include a petition filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla, a lawyer for the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT), against President Arévalo and the Nomination Commission. Falla criticizes the composition of the list of six finalists, pointing out that candidates with higher scores in the evaluations were excluded, including María Consuelo Porras, the current Attorney General, who led the ranking but was left off the final list. Magistrates of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala. (Photo courtesy of substitute magistrate Luis Fernando Bermejo). One of the appeals warns of a "certain and imminent" threat to the principles of alternation and institutional legality, with alleged violations of the Constitution in the composition of the shortlist and the election of García Luna. Another case argues that the selection of the final six omitted candidates with proven qualifications and ethical track records. The plaintiffs emphasize that the exclusion of better-qualified candidates undermines the legitimacy of the process. This group of appeals includes signatures from figures such as Ricardo Méndez-Ruiz, president of the FCT, and David Alberto Juárez. In addition, ruling party deputies have requested measures to preserve the information and assets of the Public Ministry in the context of the imminent end of Porras's term. Since the installation of the new magistrates in April, the Constitutional Court has exhibited internal tensions. According to local media, there are two main groups: a group of three magistrates led by Roberto Molina Barreto, Dina Ochoa, and Julia Rivera, and a minority led by President Anabella Morfín and Magistrate Astrid Lemus. These differences have been reflected in previous resolutions and add uncertainty about the path the session will take. The most recent legal action came from a group of deputies led by José Alberto Chic Cardona, of the VOS party, who, after the official announcement of the appointment, declared on his social networks that some cases "had lost their relevance." Former officials such as lawyer and former deputy Fernando Linares Beltranena, as well as former candidates and other private lawyers, have also been involved. The period that María Consuelo Porras has led the Public Ministry has lasted eight years, marked by sanctions and international scrutiny. During her tenure, the Attorney General's Office was accused of persecutory practices against judges, prosecutors, and journalists involved in investigations into corruption, according to Guatemalan media. These actions contributed to the weakening of the organization and a progressive erosion of public trust. The Court will receive in its session legally outdated cases, while analyzing the appeals that seek to change the course of the transition. Analysts and social actors argue that a ruling that suspends or challenges the appointment would have immediate effects, generating a new phase of legal uncertainty and institutional disruption. The outcome will depend on whether the Constitutional Court validates the procedure followed by the Nomination Commission, which supported the list of six finalists and led to the selection of García Luna, or whether it opts for a thorough review, a possibility that could alter the schedule and the outcome of the succession to the head of the Public Ministry.