The Puerto Rico House of Representatives approved on Thursday Senate Bill 1096, the judicial reform of Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, which would change how court administrators have been appointed for decades and eliminate the municipal judge position. With the vote, the bill returned to the Senate floor the same afternoon to consider House amendments.
Thirty-two representatives from the New Progressive Party and Project Dignity voted in favor, 15 from the Popular Democratic Party and the Puerto Rican Independence Party opposed it, and six representatives were absent. House debate was held Monday, with the vote deferred. House Judiciary Committee Chair José "Che" Pérez Cordero said the bill moves from "I to we," giving the full Supreme Court authority to adopt rules for choosing key figures in court administration, without diminishing the chief justice’s administrative powers.
House Speaker Carlos "Johnny" Méndez framed it as the Legislative Assembly’s constitutional duty. Representative Adriana Gutiérrez Colón cited constitutional objections, barriers to access to justice and judicial independence; Representative Denis Márquez said the measure amounts to political control of the courts. The bill keeps the Judiciary as the nine-member Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals with 39 judges in panels of 3 to 7, and a Court of First Instance fixed at 338 judges.
House changes were minimal: disciplinary measures by the Supreme Court would come after due procedural steps, and the law takes effect 120 days after approval instead of 90. The measure has faced opposition from judicial bodies and constitutional law experts who argue it violates separation of powers, since since 1952 the chief justice, a post Maite Oronoz Rodríguez has held since 2016, has appointed court administrators.