Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

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Puerto Rico

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The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having the ultimate judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of local commonwealth law. It is head of the Judicial Branch of the Government of Puerto Rico, the other branches being the executive branch and the legislative branch. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico holds its sessions in the city of San Juan.

[edit] Structure and powers

The Supreme Court Building is at the entrance of the city of San Juan.

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico was established by the Constitution of Puerto Rico in 1952. It is the only high court required by the constitution. All other courts are created by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. However, since Puerto Rico is also a Commonwealth of the United States, there is also a Federal District Court on the island.

The justices (currently seven) are appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico and confirmed by majority vote by the Senate. One of these seven justices serves as Chief Justice; the remaining members are designated Associate Justices. Unlike the Supreme Court of the United States, the justices of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court do not serve for life. The Constitution of the island establishes that the justices are obliged to retire on the date they become seventy (70) years old.

Originally the Supreme Court was composed of five justices. However, during the 1960s the number was changed to seven. During the early 1970s the number of justices was raised to nine only to be reduced to seven once again in 1976.

The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is only within the Constitution of Puerto Rico. It works similar way to the state Supreme Courts in the United States. It has concurrent jurisdiction to interpret federal laws, unless the Supremacy Clause requires otherwise. Judgments that stand on federal law grounds may be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, if no adequate and independent ground for the opinion is present. The Court has the power of judicial review and its decision are considered binding precedent within the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico also regulates Law practice in Puerto Rico.

The term of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court begins on the first Monday of October and ends on the last week of June of the following year. However, during the recess months of July through September, an alternating panel of three justices are allowed to hear cases and their decisions are considered binding precedent. However, in order for any law passed by the Legislative Assembly to be declared unconstitutional, it requieres the votes of a majority of the current members of the Court, therefore, a three justices panel may not hear challenges to laws passed by the Legislature.

The justices decide whether or not to hear oral arguments for the case. If the case is controversial or carries high public interest, usually an oral argument is scheduled. When this argument occurs, each side has twenty-five minutes to state their respective claims and five minutes for rebuttal. After the sides have ended their argument, each justice has ten minutes (in order of seniority) to ask questions to each side. Justices might decide to yield the balance of their time to one of their colleagues.

[edit] Appointments

Appointments to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico have traditionally been a politicized and often controversial process. The Governor of Puerto Rico usually appoints someone who is affiliated with his own political party.^{[citation needed]} So far, the Court has always been dominated by justices affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party.^{[citation needed]} Three women have been appointed justices since 1952; one of them, Miriam Naveira, was Chief Justice for a period of one year. All justices in the history of the court have been white and catholic.^{[citation needed]}

Currently, the Supreme Court has two vacant seats after the retirement of Justice Baltasar Corrada del Río in early 2005 and the unexpected death of Justice Jaime Fuster in late 2007. No nominations have been made to this positions. The situation will further complicate when Justice Francisco Rebollo reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 in September of 2008. If no nominations are made, the Court would be left with only four members, the minimum number of justices required to declare a law unconstitutional.

[edit] Current Composition of the Court

[edit] Conflicts with the Federal Court

From 1915 to 1961, decisions of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court could be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In earlier years, the First Circuit frequently reversed the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, sometimes attempting to impose its own interpretations of Puerto Rico's civil law legal norms despite the Boston-based court's unfamiliarity with Puerto Rico jurisprudence, until a series of opinions by United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes instructed that the Puerto Rico Supreme Court's interpretations were not to be overturned by the federal appeals court unless they were "manifestly wrong." With the standard of review so limited, and especially after Puerto Rico attained Commonwealth status under the 1952 Constitution, this route for appeals was deemed anachronistic and was repealed in 1961. Today, decisions of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court are as final as those of any state supreme court and are reviewable by the Supreme Court of the United States only pursuant to a writ of certiorari when an important question of federal law is involved.

Conflicts between the Puerto Rico courts and the federal court do arise from time to time. According to the Constitution of Puerto Rico of 1952, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is only within laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. However, on several occasions the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico has taken jurisdiction on cases having to do with Puerto Rican law. The most controversial of these cases occurred in November, 2004 when the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico declared that all ballots should be counted during the Puerto Rico General Election of 2004. The New Progressive Party then appealed to the Federal Court, claiming that some of the ballots should be nullified. Federal Judge Daniel Dominguez then took jurisdiction of the case, effectively nullifying the decision of the Supreme Court.

On December 15, 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit nullified the decision of Judge Dominguez, saying that questions on the electoral process of Puerto Rico are matters for the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.

[edit] Chief Justices of Puerto Rico

• Luis Negrón Fernández
• José Trías Monge (1974-1985)
• Víctor M. Pons (1985-1992)
• José Andreu García(1992-2003)
• Miriam Naveira (2003-2004)
• Federico Hernández Denton (2004-present)

[edit] External links

• tribunalpr.org - official site, in Spanish.
• Puerto Rican United States Appeal Court Cases