Judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho removed: An impact on the Peruvian judicial system
The National Justice Board (JNJ) of Peru has made a momentous decision this Friday by dismissing judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho, a central figure in the most high-profile judicial proceedings of the last decade in the country. The measure was adopted by a majority after a disciplinary process that evaluated his performance in recent cases.
The administrative procedure that led to his removal from office focused on procedural irregularities related to the delay in the notification of a resolution and the processing of an appeal. Said appeal was linked to the pretrial detention ordered against Mateo Castañeda, who is being investigated in the case known as “Los Waykis en la Sombra”.
The origin of the sanction
The JNJ’s resolution has as a direct precedent a pronouncement from the Constitutional Court. The highest interpreter of the Constitution determined that the delay in the processing of the appeal affected fundamental rights such as the right to a defense and the plurality of instances, which forced the file to be sent to the Board for a disciplinary evaluation that finally concluded with their dismissal.
A career marked by high-profile cases
Concepción Carhuancho, who led the First National Preparatory Investigation Court, was the visible face of the anti-corruption investigations linked to the construction company Odebrecht. His career was characterized by decisions that shook the Peruvian political landscape:
- Alejandro Toledo and Ollanta Humala: In 2017, the magistrate issued pretrial detention against both former presidents. In Humala’s case, the measure included his wife, Nadine Heredia.
- Keiko Fujimori: In 2018, he ordered her pretrial detention in the framework of investigations for alleged money laundering related to the financing of her political campaigns.
It is important to clarify that the dismissal approved by the JNJ responds exclusively to the disciplinary procedure derived from the Mateo Castañeda case and is not directly related to the previous sentences handed down against the mentioned political figures.
With this decision, a significant judicial chapter in Peru is closed, leaving behind years of resolutions that marked the public agenda and the justice system of the Andean country.
