A/HRC/45/CRP.11 Mission’s mandate have been alleged in the Arco Minero region.337 The Mission was not able to investigate these due to time and resource limitations, as noted above. 4. The Supreme Court of Justice 148. One of the elements that contributes to the violations and crimes determined by the Mission is the lack of independence of the judiciary. The 1999 Constitution, which outlines the judicial power and the institutions of justice system,338 makes clear that the judiciary shall be independent and that the Supreme Court shall enjoy functional, financial and administrative autonomy.339 149. Shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, the 1999 National Constituent Assembly passed a transitional measure appointing Supreme Court magistrates outside of the constitutional process that continues to date.340 Since then, a series of decisions increased Government powers over selection of Supreme Court judges.341 This includes: (1) the 2000 law of the National Assembly allowing it to elect magistrates by a simple majority rather than the two-thirds majority required under the Constitution;342 (2) a 2000 Supreme Court decision exempting judicial candidates from fulfilling career requirements outlined in the Constitution;343 and (3) the 2004 adoption by the National Assembly of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice increasing the size of the Supreme Court from 20 to 32 judges.344 150. In December 2015, the outgoing National Assembly hastily appointed 13 judges (out of the total 32) and 21 alternates to the Supreme Court for the period 2015-2027, who were later referred to as the “express judges”. The appointments occurred in the period following the opposition’s majority win in the 6 December 2015 legislative elections and the taking of power by the new National Assembly in January 2016. 151. This process was not in accordance with the Constitution nor the 2010 Organic Law of the Supreme Court. The law requires that justices be elected by two-thirds of the National Assembly345 (allowing only for election by simple majority if three previous attempts to reach 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 violent-south; Fernando Fernández, Materiales de Sangre, available at: https://observatoriodot.org.ve/materiales-de-sangre/. See e.g., Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/44/54, 15 July 2020, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session44/Documents/A_HRC_44_54_ UnofficialSpanishTranslation.pdf; Human Rights Watch, Venezuela: Violentos abusos en minas de oro ilegales, 4 February 2020, available at: https://www.hrw.org/es/news/2020/02/04/venezuelaviolentos-abusos-en-minas-de-oro-ilegales; International Crisis Group, El peso del oro: violencia en el sur de Venezuela, 28 February 2019, available at: https://www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-americacaribbean/andes/venezuela/073-gold-and-grief-venezuelas-violent-south 1999 Constitution, arts. 253-272. Ibid., art. 254 and 256. See also, Criminal Procedure Code, Official Gazette No. 6078 of 15 June 2012, art. 4. Reorganization of Judicial Power and Penitentiary System, published in the Official Gazette No. 36.805, 11 October 1999, available at: https://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/ven_res51.pdf. 1999 Constitution, art. 272. See also, Acceso a la Justicia, El Secuestro del Sistema de Justicia, available at: https://www.accesoalajusticia.org/secuestro-justicia-pecado-original-chavismo/. This was partially modified by the 2010 reforms to the Organic Law, which allowed for a simplemajority election only if three attempts to reach a two-thirds vote had failed. Ley Especial para la Ratificación o Designación de los Funcionarios o Funcionarias del Poder Ciudadano y Magistrados y Magistradas del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia para el Primer Período Constitucional, published in the Official Gazette No. 37.077 of 14 November 2000. Judgment No. 1562 of 12 December 2000, available at: https://vlexvenezuela.com/vid/defensoriapueblo-283506271 Ley Orgánica del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, published in the Official Gazette No. 37.942, 20 May 2004, art. 2, available at: https://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/mesicic2_ven_anexo_44_sp.pdf. The National Assembly may only appoint Supreme Court judges by simple majority if in four previous plenary sessions they have failed to attain at two-thirds majority. Ley Orgánica del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, published in the Official Gazette No. 39.522 of 1 October 2010, art. 38, available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/PDFs/mesicic4_ven_ley_org_trib_sup_just.pdf. 39