Global InformationJudgment of the Constitutional Court of Peru over the motion of confidence proposed on 17 November 2022 information
| Case over the vote of confidence and its rejection EXP N° 00004-2022-PCC/TC | |
|---|---|
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| Court | Constitutional Court of Peru |
| Decided | 30 May 2023 |
| Citation | Constitution of Peru |
| Transcript | 00004-2022-PCC/TC |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Francisco Morales Saravia (President), Luis Gustavo Gutiérrez Ticse, Helder Dominguez Haro, Luz Imelda Pacheco Zerga, César Ochoa Cardich, Manuel Monteagudo Valdez. |
| Case opinions | |
| Decision by | Majority |
| Concurrence | 5 |
| Concur/dissent | 1 |
| Dissent | 0 |
| Keywords | |
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The Judgment of the Constitutional Court of Peru over the motion of confidence proposed on 17 November 2022 is a legal decision of the Constitutional Court of Peru adopted by majority on 30 May 2023, in response to the jurisdictional claim filed by the Congress of Peru against the administration of then-President Pedro Castillo for the motion of confidence raised on 17 November 2022 by its Prime Minister Aníbal Torres to obtain from Congress the approval of Bill 3570/2022-PE that proposed repealing the Law No. 31399, and whose "rejection" had been interpreted by the executive power as a denial of the same, according to the agreement adopted in the meeting of the council of ministers on 24 November 2022.
On 30 May 2023, the Constitutional Court agreed with Congress' claim against Castillo, and consequently declared null and void the Agreement of the Council of Ministers dated 24 November 2022, insofar as it illegally interpreted that the flat rejection of the motion of confidence supposed the denial or refusal of the same. By the contrary, the Court established that in no case is the executive power empowered to make an interpretation contrary to that made on the subject by the Congress, nor is it empowered to assume that there has been a factual denial or refusal of the same, which is contrary to the Constitution, since the denial must always be express and decided by Congress.[1] The judgement overruled a 2019 Constitutional Court decision which had introduced the concept of "factual denial of confidence", which gave the executive branch a broad power of interpretation to decide when a motion of confidence has been rejected or not by the Congress.[2][3]
After the verdict was made public, reception of the judgement was mixed; some legal experts considered that the judgment was correct by restoring the balance of power between the executive and legislative branch,[4][5][6]and that even the former president of the Council of Ministers Aníbal Torres and the ministers who signed the Certificate of the Session of the Council of Ministers on 24 November 2022, could be denounced as it has been established that said act was unconstitutional.[7][8] On the other hand, some criticized the ruling, considering rather that it upsets the aforementioned balance of power between the executive and legislative branch.[2]
- ^ "TC califica que es contraria a la constitución la denegatoria fáctica de la cuestión de confianza y establece que es competencia del congreso determinar su rechazo, rehusamiento o su negatoria". Constitutional Court of Peru (in Spanish). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ a b Patriau, Enrique (21 June 2023). "El Tribunal Constitucional altera el equilibrio de poderes con sus decisiones". La República (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ "Versión de Alejandro Muñante acerca de que el TC anuló posibilidad de cuestión de confianza por reformas constitucionales no es cierta". Ojo Público (in Spanish). 13 October 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Tribunal Constitucional zanjó el tema de la cuestión de confianza". Peru21 (in Spanish). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "No existe la denegatoria fáctica de la cuestión de confianza por Carlos Hakansson (Opinión)". Diario Correo (in Spanish). 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Lucas Ghersi sobre Cuestión de Confianza: "Este fallo es para que nunca más se de un Golpe de Estado"". apnoticias (in Spanish). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Aníbal Torres podría ser denunciado por firmar denegación fáctica contra Congreso". Diario Expreso (in Spanish). 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Aníbal Torres podría ser denunciado tras fallo del TC sobre negación fáctica de cuestión de confianza". Panamericana Televisión (in Spanish). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.