Moral Council asks AN to rule; two judges from TSJ are facing suspension

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): The Republican Moral Council (CMR) set its sights on two judges on the Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ), asking the National Assembly (AN) to suspend both from the bench. Legal observers say there's no appeal against decisions made by the CMR, so the judges' careers may be over – and it's not clear whether they could even practice law.

The CMR, which includes the Attorney General's Office, the Comptroller General and the Public Defender, upheld a petition brought by lawyer Jorge Aguilar Gorrondono against Judge Oberto Velez concerning a case heard by him at the Civil Chamber at the TSJ.

The other judge is the distinctly posh Blanca Rosa Marmol de Leon. She was deemed to have ignored the autonomy of the State Prosecutors Office by asking for a file on Maria Corina Machado, a highly vocal director of Sumate, a voter rights pressure group that was once actively involved in opposition to President Hugo Chavez and the campaign for a referendum on his mandate in August 2004 which confirmed him in office.