Guatemala
In his reasoned vote, Judge Roberto Molina Barreto reveals the formula to reverse the increase: the 21-2025 act of the Board of Directors of the Congress that materialized the salary increase must be challenged.
During February the deputies reached salaries of Q66 thousand 300 to Q97 thousand 300, according to the payroll. (PHOTO FREE PRESS: PL hemeroteca).
The salary increase assigned to the deputies is still in force. The Constitutional Court (CC) rejected a resource that sought to suspend the salary increase, which went from Q9,550 to Q46,700 per month for each legislator.
The Plenary of Magistrates rejected a request for due execution, with which the orders and conditions established in the provisional protection that stopped the salary increase on December 16 were intended to be fulfilled. However, the petition was denied due to a series of errors.
The application submitted by the Organization Action Citizen (AC) requested the intervention of the Court against the salary increase. However, the amparo on which the petition was based is not related to the decision on the salary increase.
On February 4, through Act 10-2025, the Board of Directors of the Congress agreed to increase the salary of the deputies. However, it was in Act 21-2025, of February 25, when the decision materialized.
The above allowed legislators to begin to receive the new salary since February 2025, which gives them a base salary of Q46,700, in addition to the bonuses and economic privileges with which they already had.
Another errors indicated by the Court by rejecting due execution is that AC is not part of the questioned amparo, that is, it was not part of the appeal granted in favor of deputy José Chic.
On December 16, the CC granted a provisional protection to the deputy of will, opportunity and solidarity (you) and suspended a series of compensation planned for when the deputies leave the position, but did not pronounce on the increase in salary. However, it established a series of steps necessary to authorize the increase.
In that resolution, the CC determined that the Board of Directors had to carry out the budgetary readcations and submit the decision to the Plenary of Congress. However, this last step, despite having been omitted by the legislative authorities, it would need to be challenged in another way.
Justify your vote
Judge Roberto Molina Barreto, head of the Constitutional Court (CC), explained why he did not support the due execution and added that, to date, the act that materialized the salary increase of the deputies has not been challenged.
In his reasoned vote, Molina Barreto exposes the reasons why he did not support the due execution and considers it necessary to explain his position due to the “national transcendence” of the decision taken by the legislators.
The magistrate explained that, in agreement 31-2024, which approved the Congress budget and authorized the salary increase, the Plenary delegated the Board of Directors to carry out the budget readjustment.
During the protection analysis filed by José Chic, the Court did not pronounce on the salary increase, although it established a series of steps to follow, such as transferring the discussion to the Plenary of Congress. However, this step was not fulfilled and, to date, it has not been challenged.
“A new provision was issued by which the related salary increase to the deputies to the Congress of the Republic was conferred, which is recorded in the second, literal point of the 21-2025 Act of the Board of Directors, issued on February 25 of this year; Provision that, at the time of issuing the resolution with which I attend, has not been subject to challenge by any constitutional action, ”explains the vote.
During his argument, Molina Barreto also points out that, although the payment was already made with the salary increase for the deputies, if some part decides to convert it, it must do so on the other hand and not through the mechanism used by citizen action.
“While the salary increase was currently materialized to the deputies of the Congress of the Republic, that decision, in any case, could be questioned by the legitimate subjects, if estimated that rights violation was incurred. It would be until then that, in any case, it would correspond to this Court to make a legal-constitutional analysis of the procedures and the legitimation of the legislative authority that assumed such a decision, and not in the present case, ”he said.
The act that formalized the salary increase without transferring the discussion to the Plenary of Congress is the number 21-2025, issued by the Board of Directors, as detailed by the resolution and the reasoned vote of Molina Barreto.
Last weekend, Congress published its payroll corresponding to February, in which the new salaries of the deputies are recorded, ranging from Q66,300 and Q97,300 per month. The highest salary corresponds to the president of Congress, Nery Ramos.