The judiciary remained in transition, with a process of reform under way. Appointments to the highest levels of the judiciary have been irregular and ninety per cent of the judges in Venezuela lack security of tenure.
The changes introduced under the new Constitution with regard to the military judiciary have not been properly implemented. The legislative and the executive have decreased the budgetary allocation to the judiciary in contravention of the Constitution. In Portuguesa state, lawyers and prosecutors received death threats from a police “extermination squad” allegedly responsible for grave human rights violations.
Attacks on Justice 2002 – Venezuela [full text, PDF]