8 When a vacancy arises, for whatever reason, the plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice shall appoint the new justice by a vote in favor of at least two thirds of its members, with due consideration to the criteria of professionalism and judicial career as provided for by law. (…) 35. There were also included transitory provisions which entitled the National Congress to appoint the justices of the Supreme Court of Justice, for one time and to the end of the entry into force of the reforms. The transitory provisions included a detailed regulation on the procedure of appointment, including the groups of society entitled to present lists of candidates as well as the creation of a Qualifying Committee, among other procedural aspects 9 . 2. Designación de los integrantes de la Corte Suprema de Justicia 36. In accordance with these transitory provisions issued on July 23rd, 1997, on October 1, 1997, the Committee charged with qualifying the candidates for Supreme Court justices, set up 9 Annex 2. Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, issued on July 23, 1997, published in Official Register No. 120 of July 31, 1997. (Annex to petitioners’ submission, received on May 23, 2006.) This document is incomplete in the case record. The full text may be found at: http://constituyente.asambleanacional.gov.ec/documentos/biblioteca/1978-codificada-en-1997.pdf. The transitory provisions are the following: ‘FIFTEEN. To allow immediate enforcement of the principles approved in the referendum of May 25, 1997, the periods for which the current justices of the Supreme Court were appointed are hereby ended; they shall, however, remain in the positions until replaced in the fashion indicated in the following transitory provision.’ ‘SIXTEEN. The National Congress shall appoint, on this occasion, the thirty-one justices of the Supreme Court, from a list composed of at least four and not more than ten candidates proposed by the following nominating entities of civil society: 1. The former constitutional presidents of the Republic; 2. The Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference; 3. The former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice; 4. The National Bar Federation of Ecuador; 5. The human rights associations; 6. The deans of the university law schools and the members of the National Council of Universities and Polytechnic Colleges (CONUEP); 7. The National Association of Newspaper Directors, the Ecuadorian Association of Television Networks, and the Ecuadorian Broadcasting Association; 8. The judges of the Superior Courts of Justice, District Tax Courts, and Administrative Tribunals, and the National Federation of Judicial Employees and Officials; 9. The general unions, campesino organizations, and teachers and educators organized under the UNE and FENAPUPE; 10. The indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples’ organizations of Ecuador; 11. The Consortium of Provincial Councils of Ecuador and the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador; and, 12. The Chambers of Production and Small Industry. Any other civil society organization or person may submit their nominations to the Constitutional Committee for Judicial Affairs.The persons or institutions mentioned in this provision shall have eight days, counted from the publication of these amendments to the Constitution in the Official Register, in which to submit a list of nominees to Congress. All candidates thus nominated must meet the requirements set out in Article 128, as amended, of the Constitution. A Qualifying Committee shall be created, which shall be composed of three parliamentarians appointed by the Speaker of the National Congress and three representatives of civil society selected by the nominating entities, who shall designate a seventh member, who shall not be a parliamentarian, as chair of the Committee. This Committee shall qualify those nominees who meet the requirements set out in Article 128, as amended, of the Constitution, and who also satisfy the conditions of probity, suitability, experience, and capacity. To that end, after it receives the list of candidates, the Committee shall arrange for its publication on a single occasion, so as to enable natural and legal persons to present, with documentation and in a confidential manner, objections to any of the qualified candidates. When 10 days following the date of the aforementioned publication have elapsed, the Committee shall submit its report for the consideration of the National Congress, which shall designate the 31 justices of the Supreme Court of Justice in the following manner: (a) Twenty-four from the candidates put forward by the 12 nominating bodies and qualified by the Committee; and, (b) Seven from the candidates proposed by any other civil society organization or person, who have been qualified by the Committee according to the same criteria set for the other candidates. Should any other of the nominating entities or persons fail to submit candidacies within the time limit established in this transitory provision, then the National Congress shall designate the justices, selecting them from the rest of the nominees. The Justices thus appointed shall take office before the Speaker of the National Congress (…).