Chilean Judges Sacked by Their Own Supreme Court for Going Abroad on Sick Leave
The full bench voted over two days. Eleven judges are out for travelling abroad while signed off sick, and twenty-six other removals failed. The post Chilean Judges Sacked by Their Own Supreme Court for Going Abroad on Sick Leave appeared first on The Rio Times .
Eleven Chilean judges were stripped of their positions by their own Supreme Court earlier this week. The court, exercising its constitutional authority, removed these judges for traveling abroad while on medical leave. This disciplinary action was taken under Article 80 of the Chilean Constitution, which allows the Supreme Court to remove judges who fail to maintain good behavior.
The removal process required a vote of at least eleven favorable votes from the full Supreme Court bench. Despite this, the court rejected more removal proposals than it granted, with 58 removal proceedings opened but 45 reviewed this phase. The majority of the rejected proposals failed to reach the necessary threshold of eleven votes, with some falling short in a tie.
The exact list of the eleven removed judges has not been published by any outlet, which is unusual for such a significant disciplinary action. This incident comes amid a broader scandal involving the abuse of medical leave by public sector employees in Chile, which has been under audit since 2025. The removal of these judges highlights the court's internal control failures and raises questions about the effectiveness of its disciplinary system.
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