rules] through competitive examinations and established in article 255 of the Constitution.69 performance evaluations,” as 1.1.8. Decision of the Supreme Court of Justice on the continuation of the comprehensive restructuring 65. By Decision No. 2009-0008 of March 18, 2009, the Supreme Court of Justice established that: (i) “[t]he comprehensive restructuring of the entire Venezuelan Judiciary” shall continue (article 1); (ii) “[t]o guarantee the efficiency and effectiveness of the restructuring process, the judges and administrative personnel of the Judiciary shall be subject to an obligatory institutional evaluation procedure” (article 2), and (iii) therefore, “[t[he posts that are vacant as a result of the restructuring process shall be filled by the Judicial Commission, and subsequently ratified by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice” (article 4).70 1.1.9. Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges 66. The “Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges” was published on August 6, 2009,71 and reformed on August 23, 2010.72 The Code “establishes the ethical principles that guide the conduct of the judges of the Republic, as well as the disciplinary regime, in order to guarantee their independence and suitability.” Article 39 of the Ethics Code establishes that “[t]he bodies that, in the exercise of their jurisdiction, have disciplinary powers over the judges of the Republic are the Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal and the Judicial Disciplinary Court. They will hear and apply (in first and second instance, respectively), the disciplinary procedures for violations of the principles and obligations contained in the Code.”73 In addition, the Code establishes the actions that could constitute disciplinary offenses and the corresponding sanctions (articles 29 to 33), as well as the characteristics, conditions and stages of the disciplinary procedure (articles 51 to 90). Finally, it establishes that “[a]s of the entry into force of the […] Code, and once the Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal and the Judicial Disciplinary Court have been established, the Commission for the Restructuring and Operation of the Judicial System will cease to function and, consequently, the cases that are underway will be interrupted and forwarded to the Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal.”74 1.2. Provisional and temporary judges in Venezuela 67. In accordance with the Decree on the Reorganization of the Judiciary (supra paras. 53 to 55), both the Political and Administrative Chamber (hereinafter “the 69 These procedures include the possibility of pre-registering in the Initial Training Program (ITP), which must be announced by the National School of the Judicature in two major national daily newspapers and on the SCJ website, setting out deadlines for the presentation of comments or objections from the community. Those who pass the ITP move on to the next stage, which consists of an “Knowledge examination” that includes written, oral and practical tests. Once the final result of the competition has been obtained, the selection panel prepares a merits-based list of participants. The vacant posts must be filled with the applicants who have obtained the highest rankings in the competition. Cf. Articles 46, 47, 5, 6, 16, 22, 24 and 27 of the NEC, supra note 68 (folios 1387, 1389 to 1392, 1396 and 1397). 70 Decision No. 2009-0008 of the Supreme Court of Justice of March 18, 2009 (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, volume III, attachment 17, folios 1402 to 1405). 71 Cf. Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges, published in Official Gazette No. 39,236 of August 6, 2009 (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, volume III, attachment 10, folios 1295 to 1315). 72 Cf. Reform of the Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges, supra note 24. 73 Cf. Article 39 of the Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges, supra note 71, folio 1304. 74 Cf. First transitory provision of the Ethics Code for Venezuelan Judges, supra note 71, folio 1313. 20