Bolivia’s top judge calls from New Delhi for a constituent assembly amid clash with government

Bolivia’s top judicial official has called for a constituent assembly from New Delhi, arguing that the country needs a broad constitutional debate rather than a partial reform controlled by lawmakers. Supreme Court President Rómer Saucedo made the appeal in an interview with EFE while attending a forum of BRICS supreme court presidents.

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Let us open the Constitution. Let us see what direction we want to give the country, but let the whole country participate. Let it not be temporary political interests that want to have a judiciary subject to their will.

Saucedo said the government’s proposal to amend the Constitution through the legislature, intended in part to attract investment during an economic crisis, could provoke a social explosion in what he called “deep Bolivia” if large sections of society are left out. “Let us open the Constitution. Let us see what direction we want to give the country, but let the whole country participate,” he said. He warned against allowing temporary political interests to place the judiciary under political control.

The dispute also centers on money. The judiciary currently receives about 0.35% of the national budget. The Supreme Court wants that share raised to 5%, while lawmakers have proposed increasing it to 3%. Saucedo said politicians have had an interest in keeping the judiciary weak because “they can subjugate the weak.” His confrontation with the executive over funding recently escalated to a threat of a judicial strike in July.

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Politicians have had an interest in keeping the judiciary weak. Because whoever is weak can be subjugated.

Bolivia ranks 29th out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries in the World Justice Project’s 2025 Rule of Law Index, ahead of only Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela. Saucedo said financial hardship also encourages corruption in a system that still relies heavily on paper files. “This archaic system of paper files lends itself to acts of corruption,” he said, alleging that people make under-the-table payments to access files or obtain photocopies.

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This archaic system of paper files lends itself to acts of corruption.

He presented digitization as part of the answer. A pilot project has begun in Chuquisaca involving artificial intelligence assistants for judges and lawyers, alongside digital case files. Saucedo said online records would allow people to access their cases by cellphone. He said the experience would later be extended nationwide, and that Bolivia was examining technological tools used in more developed Asian countries.

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With the digital system and the online case file, the person will have access through their cellphone.