The reform was approved by the Senate on Wednesday with 86 votes in favor, including the key support of an opposition member, and 41 against.
On Friday, the Congress of Mexico declared constitutional the reform after obtaining the support of 23 of a total of 32 state congresses (he needed 17).
And on Sunday, the president AMLO signed it. “Today, on this historic day (which coincides with the celebration of Independence), I signed the decree for publication in the Official Journal of the Federation “of the constitutional reform to the Judiciary,” said the leftist president in a message posted on his social networks. He was accompanied by the president-elect, his fellow party member Claudia Sheinbaum.
The election by popular vote of all judges, including those of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN, the equivalent of the Constitutional Court in Peru), will clean up corruption in the Judiciary and set an “example” to the world, according to AMLO.
But the opposition, NGOs and the United States have said that the reform It undermines the independence of the judiciary and leaves judges at the mercy of drug trafficking, which already has an impact on politics.
AMLO will hand over power
to his party colleague Claudia Sheinbaum on October 1, after having governed Mexico for six years.
Members of Mexico’s Senate celebrate after approving the controversial judicial reform on September 11, 2024. (Photo by Cesar Sanchez / AFP)
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Key points of judicial reform
The most controversial part of the judicial reform It is the election by popular vote of members of the Supreme Court, the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPFJ), a new Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal and all district judges and circuit magistrates in the country.
Thus, some 7,000 judges and magistrates, including 1,600 federal judges, will be elected in elections to be held in 2025 and 2027. The candidates will be proposed equally by the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
Until now, The Federal Judicial Council (CJF) was in charge of appointing judges and magistrates after examinations and merit-based competitions. While The members of the Supreme Court were proposed by the president and ratified by the Senate..
As the AFP agency recalls, the case most similar to the Mexican one is that of Boliviawhere the judges of the high courts are elected by popular vote. However, a council of the judiciary appoints the ordinary judges there.
The judicial reform of Mexico It also stipulates that there will be nine Supreme Court justices, instead of the current 11. They will remain in office for 12 years, three fewer than at present.
They will not have a life pension in the event of retirement, as is the case now, and the remuneration of the members of the Supreme Court may not exceed that of the president of the country.
To join the Supreme Court, a person must be over 35 years old, have a decade of experience as a lawyer, and not have held office in the year prior to his or her election.
As for the New Court of Judicial Disciplinethis will replace the Federal Judiciary Council, the body responsible for the administration and internal oversight of the Judiciary.
This Judicial Disciplinary Court will receive complaints from any person or authority, and will investigate ministers, magistrates, judges and judicial personnel for acts contrary to the law.
It will have five members, of which the president will appoint one, the Senate another and the Supreme Court the rest.
The judicial reform also incorporates the figure of the “faceless judges” to handle cases of drug trafficking and high-impact violence anonymously, with the aim of preserving their security and independence from extortion and threats, according to the law.
On this point, the Office in Mexico of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights He spoke out against it, considering that it prevents knowing the suitability and competence of the judges.
The AFP agency recalled that at the end of the 1980s Colombia implemented the figure of the faceless judges to confront an escalation of drug trafficking terrorism. It was also used in Peru during the government of Alberto Fujimori to confront the terrorist group Shining Path.
Currently, in El SalvadorUnder the state of emergency regime implemented by the Nayib Bukele government, authorities have been allowed to detain thousands of alleged gang members without a warrant, who are then brought before faceless judges.
“The ruling party will take over the only independent power”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum greet supporters on July 1, 2019. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)
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The Mexican journalist Ignacio Rodriguez Reyna He told him The Trade that as a starting point, it must be recognized that The Mexican judiciary has many flaws related to corruption and other vices“But it is not the only factor in a terrible system of injustice that exists in the country… it should be added to the prosecutor’s offices, which are theoretically independent, but in reality depend on the Executive and are a real cesspool.”
“The justice system is the one that requires a deep reform,” said Rodríguez Reyna, who questioned the rule promoted by the President AMLO.
“The truth is that it is a huge setback Mexicobecause what has been done is that the Executive and Legislative Powers, which are in the hands of the same party Morena, take the only independent power“In reality, the balance of power that is supposed to exist in modern democracies has been destroyed,” the journalist said.
“We are going to see a Judiciary that will be incapable of saying anything against the Executivewe are going to see a Judiciary that will comply with the political will of both legislators and the rulers in power, We are going to see a Judiciary that will only exist on paper. So, yes, it seems to me a profound democratic setback, it is a loss in the advances of counterbalancing power, will give rise to almost omnipotent governments in every sensefigures who, as we have seen in several Latin American countries, concentrate all the power,” he predicted.
“It is a very sad and painful episode, not only for Mexico, but in general for those Latin American countries that have tried to have more or less functional democracies, with a balance of powers and controls,” he continued.
Rodríguez Reyna explained that in the future there will be no independent judges in Mexicobut they will be ideologically and politically aligned with the power in power.
“The law provides that a third of the candidates will be proposed by the Legislative Branch, which is now controlled by Morena. Another third will be proposed by the Executive Branch, which remains in the hands of Morena. And the other third will be proposed by the Judicial Branch, which will gradually be taken over by the same candidates promoted by Morena. So, from the start, there is already 66% of the people proposed who have a clear political, ideological and partisan affiliation,” he said.
As for the faceless judgesRodríguez Reyna recalled that there is already jurisprudence and studies that indicate that in the countries where this figure was used the results were atrocious. “Many arbitrary acts were committed and unfounded sentences were handed down and there were no responsible parties.”
“It seems to me a desperate measure. In reality, there should be a review of the policy against drugs and the fight against organized crime.. If, as lawyers say, this will represent a certain improvement in guaranteeing the security of judges, I believe that there will be a very large margin for abuse of power and these obscure sentences can lead to violations of human rights. Furthermore, this will not change anything in the fight against organized crime, since at this point much more in-depth policies are required, such as attacking money laundering, which is the engine that drives all illicit activity,” he said.
“The only thing we have seen now is the brutal empowerment of the cartels that even reaches areas where there was previously no significant criminal activity, but which today are the scene of unbridled violence,” said Rodríguez Reyna.
Francisco Valdes Ugaldea doctor in Political Science from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said that Mexico may end up outside of international standards which has been assumed through signed treaties.
“Between the reform of the Amparo law and the reform of the judicial system, what is being put at risk and sooner or later will have to be questioned by the ruling party is respect for human rights, because one of the things that is being questioned here implicitly, although they have not said so, is that Mexico can end up placing itself outside the international norms that the country itself has signed through treaties and conventions on human rights. Already in the process of publicizing the judicial reform, many associations and institutions have expressed their concern that this will happen in Mexico because it will be a very significant violation of human rights,” said the academic in an interview with the Judicial Power of Mexico channel.
Juan Poom Medinaa doctor in Social Sciences with a specialty in political science, told The Trade who supports AMLO’s reform. He argued that according to studies carried out by Mexican experts, including ministers of the Supreme Court itself, justice in Mexico is classist and has an institutional and ideological bias that favors the upper classes and leaves the most unprotected behind.
“As it is an innovative proposal that breaks with a centuries-old tradition regarding the way judges and magistrates are chosen, a tradition that generated too much corruption and family networks within that power, it is not known what can happen or what impact it will have,” said Poom.
On Thursday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) In a statement, the Court expressed its “grave concern” about the impact of the law on judicial independence and the rule of law in Mexico.
“The Commission has received a great deal of information from civil society organizations, experts and justice operators on the possible effects that this constitutional reform would have on Mexico’s international obligations regarding judicial independence, access to justice and the rule of law,” the IACHR said.
