QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ecuador's top judges faced a trial by lottery on Tuesday -- with 10 of the 31 justices set to lose their jobs by chance under a newly approved constitution. And the justices say they won't go along with it.
The court was dissolved on Sunday under a new constitution that took effect last week. A temporary 21-member court is supposed to be chosen at random from the ranks of the old one until a new, permanent court takes over in 2009.
But the court's justices issued a statement last week announcing they would refuse to take seats determined by what they called a "degrading" lottery process.
Omar Simon, president of the electoral body appointed to carry out the lottery, told the Gama TV station Tuesday that he does not know what officials will do if the judges refuse to rejoin the new court.
Supreme Court Judge Rodrigo Bucheli said that the lottery process threatens the security of the judicial branch and the integrity of pending rulings.
"Instead of a technical judicial process, they are going to hold an implicitly political process," Bucheli told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The constitution approved by referendum on September 28 established a transitional regime that will govern until general elections are held in early 2009. A new, permanent court is supposed to take over then as well.
The rest of Ecuador's court system has been functioning normally.
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