President Milei’s government sent the Senate on Tuesday the nomination of federal judge Daniel Rafecas for a seat on the national criminal appeals court, a promotion that needs the Senate’s approval.
The seat is No. 7 on the Federal Criminal and Correctional Cassation Chamber, which reviews sentences from the capital’s 30 oral criminal courts. Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques proposed Rafecas based on his first-place finish in a 2018 competition for the post, and the request is signed by Milei and Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva.
Rafecas has been a federal judge at Comodoro Py, Buenos Aires’ federal court complex, for 22 years. His court handles the investigation of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center, where he recently charged eight Iranian and Lebanese suspects; the illicit-enrichment case against Buenos Aires provincial deputy Francisco Adorni, brother of former cabinet chief Manuel Adorni; and the gender-violence complaint by Fabiola Yañez against former president Alberto Fernández.
If Rafecas moves up, five of the 12 federal trial courts at Comodoro Py would lack a permanent judge, and the judges who cover several courts at once would have to redistribute his cases. His departure would also let the government nominate a new judge to a court that handles many of the country’s main corruption cases. The government separately plans to cut the number of federal first-instance courts to eight, which needs Congress to pass a law.
Rafecas is also covering, until Nov. 6, the federal court that has the $LIBRA cryptocurrency case, while its regular judge, Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, is on leave. Martínez de Giorgi dismissed the case against Milei and his sister Karina on Oct. 23, and the prosecutors’ office that investigates corruption in the executive branch has asked for the case to be reopened and appealed the dismissal.
The Constitution requires two-thirds of the senators present only for Supreme Court justices; for judges of lower federal courts it requires the Senate’s agreement in a public session. The nomination must first formally enter the Senate in a public session. Citizens then have seven days to comment on the candidate, and the Senate’s Acuerdos committee, which reviews judicial nominations, must hold a public hearing and issue a report before the full chamber votes. The daily Cronista calculated that these steps take about three weeks, so with the regular session ending Nov. 30 a vote is more likely in December or in 2027.