Guatemala’s Justice System Is at a Breaking Point A man protests Guatemala's Congress in December.Josue Decavele/Getty Images I have served as a justice for Guatemala’s highest tribunal – the Constitutional Court – for the last decade. My record will show votes to deny amnesty for crimes against humanity, as well as decisions establishing strong precedent in favor of indigenous rights. In March, I was elected to a third consecutive term on the court. And yet, on April 13, Congress blocked me from swearing in. The move, based on a technicality, citing irregularities in my election by Guatemala’s Supreme University Council and the fact that I’m not a university professor, follows requests from the same coalition of lawmakers to remove my legal immunity as a judge. Together, these efforts to punish me for my decisions on the bench are an affront to judicial independence.