The National Assembly controlled by the Ortega-Murillo regime took away the power from the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) to supervise the administrative operation of the Public Registries of Real Estate and Mercantile Property, to appoint Public Registrars, as well as to sanction them for disciplinary faults, through an amendment to Article 165 of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua.
At the same time, the Law of Attachment of the National System of Registries (SINARE) to the Attorney General’s Office (AGR) was created, which establishes that the AGR will exercise the direction, control and supervision of SINARE, in addition to providing legal representation to the State of Nicaragua in affairs pertaining to courts of justice.
The reform eliminates paragraph four of Article 165, which stated that the National Council of Administration and Judiciary Studies, a body of the SCJ with technical and functional autonomy, had the power to “supervise the administrative operation of the Public Registries of Real Estate and Mercantile Property, as well as that of the common services offices”.
This amendment also modifies paragraphs five and six, which previously attributed to the Council the authority to appoint Public Registrars of Real Estate and Mercantile Property, as well as to investigate, hear and solve complaints for minor, serious and very serious disciplinary offenses, imposing the sanctions established by law.
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Now, the Council can only appoint and sanction forensic doctors and secretaries of proceedings in accordance with the law. With this, the Public Registries are totally separated from the administration of justice and are at total disposition of the AGR.
According to the Statement of Motives, “Public Registries in Nicaragua have their own rules for their operation with administrative, functional and financial autonomy”.
And the changes were justified to give “continuity to the process of strengthening, improving and streamlining the services provided by the different public registries nationwide, as well as the promotion of public and private investment”.
Meanwhile, the creation of the new law that gives the AGR full control of SINARE was justified to “streamline and optimize the administration of the Public Registries”.
Police hunt inside the SCJ
This occurs in the midst of a police hunt within the SCJ which, according to the newspaper La Prensa, has involved the investigation and detention of dozens of workers of the Judiciary, including the president of said institution, Alba Luz Ramos, who has been known for her faithful commitment to the Ortega-Murillo regime for decades.
According to the newspaper, Ramos was taken from her office and brought to her home by official agents on October 24. Since then, neither she nor her relatives have shown up to work in the institutions.
Only two days later, it was also reported that the pro-Ortega magistrate, Yadira Centeno, was sent home and her daughter, Carla Lucía Flores Centeno, was detained by the police for unknown reasons.
In addition to the arrests, the Ortega-Murillo regime dismissed the secretary of organizations of the Sandinista Front in the CSJ, Berman Martínez; the director of the General Services office in the SCJ, Walter Sobalvarro; among other people of said institution.