The Court is normally composed of five titular or primary magistrates who serve five year terms.

Its specific duties are: The Court is composed of five titular magistrates, each of whom has a designated substitute.

Each of the following bodies appoints one set of magistrates: The Supreme Court of Justice, the Congress of the Republic, the President and the Council of Ministers, the Superior University council of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, and the Assembly of the College of Attorneys and Notaries.

The dissenting magistrates, Mauro Chacon and Gloria Porras, called the ruling disproportionate.

This was the first time a nation tried a former leader domestically for genocide and thus drew significant scholarly and activist attention.