Venezuela assembly approves court panel reform

Venezuela's ​National Assembly on Tuesday approved ​an increase in ‌the ​number of committee members who will select new justices on the ‌country's highest court, part of ongoing talks between the government and the opposition to reform Venezuela's political system ahead of ‌future elections.

Venezuela’s interim government, which is backed by the ‌Trump administration, and a faction of the opposition began negotiations in August, where the parties are discussing changes to the Supreme Court, ⁠whose ​current magistrates ⁠are tied to the ruling party, as well as reforms to ⁠the electoral council. Under the reform approved on Tuesday, ​the members on the Supreme Court's nominations committee increase ⁠from 21 to 23 and the committee will be made up ⁠of ​11 lawmakers and 12 members of civil society.

This committee will evaluate and preselect a list of ⁠32 magisterial candidates. In May, the National Assembly appointed a commission ⁠to select ⁠the justices, but the process was halted when the government and the opposition began ‌the ‌new round of dialogue.