Government nominates Haroldo Brito for Supreme Court Justice

SANTIAGO.- Minister of Justice Carlos Maldonado announced this morning that the President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, will propose Magistrate Haroldo Brito to the Senate to serve as the new Supreme Court Justice.

Brito, if approved for the position in the Upper House, will take over the vacancy left by Minister Alberto Chaigneau del Campo.

Bachelet´s proposal received the lowest number of votes during the nomination session conducted by the Supreme Court and was put on the list as a wild card after tying with the amount of votes received by Minister Alejandro Solís.

Alfredo Pfeiffer (who has been included in nomination sessions since 2001), of the Santiago Court of Appeals, and Guillermo Silva, of the Court of Concepción, received the highest number of votes.

Brito´s nomination is part of a political pact between the current government administration and the opposition, which hopes Pfeiffer will be lifted by a veto on the part of the PS-PPD parties of the Concertación, given that Pfeiffer is in favor of amnesty in the area of human rights offenses.