Mexican President Defends Judicial Reform Amid Protests From Sectors of the Judiciary
Image representing judicial reform in Mexico. Photo: X/ @BBGenEspanol
September 3, 2024 Hour: 1:42 pm
Their actions will not stop the judicial reform being discussed in Congress, President Lopez Obrador stated.
On Tuesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) defended the judicial reform, stating that the majority of Mexicans want to elect judges, ministers, and magistrates.
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He acknowledged that while the judiciary elite wants to protect their privileges, their right to protest will not prevent the judicial reform from being discussed by Congress. Earlier, Mexico City’s Citizen Security Secretariat reported that judiciary officials had closed Emiliano Zapata Street, where the Chamber of Representatives is located.
“We were called to a plenary meeting at 10 am, but all the entrances to the building are blocked,” said Ricardo Monreal, the coordinator of the ruling party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).
“We don’t want to provoke a confrontation. It’s not worth it. We are pacifists… I have asked my colleagues not to try to enter and to let the people protest. We will decide later. We will not request police intervention, although if we do, it would be within our rights,” he added.
“This judicial reform will take place because the Mexicans indicated so at the polls,” Monreal said, mentioning that the parliamentary discussion could be moved to the Santa Fe headquarters.
Previously, two judges granted injunctions to stop the discussion of judicial reform. The leftist legislator explained that such a decision is improper because it violates the Constitution’s article 39, which states that the people have the inalienable right to establish the system of government they choose.
On Tuesday, the Mexican digital newspaper “Expansion Politica” published an article summarizing the key aspects of the judicial reform proposed by President AMLO. Some of them are presented below:
*. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation will be entirely replaced by ministers elected at the polls in 2025.
*. Judges and magistrates will be replaced in a staggered and gradual manner. Half of them will be replaced in 2025, and a public lottery process will decide if their position will be subjected to election or not.
*. The election will be held on the first Sunday of June 2025. All the ministers of the Supreme Court, two vacant magistrate positions in the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, magistrates of the five regional chambers of that Tribunal, 35 members of a new Judicial Discipline Tribunal, and half of the positions in the judicial circuit will be elected.
*. For Circuit Magistrates and District Judges, the election will be staggered: half of the positions corresponding to each judicial circuit in the extraordinary election of 2025, and the rest in 2027.
*. In 2025, the Senate will begin by deciding the election of the necessary judicial positions to fill vacancies, resignations, and retirements.
*. The three branches of the Mexican Union will propose candidates in a balanced manner. For circuit judges and magistrates, two candidates will be proposed per position. The election will be by judicial circuit.
*. To evaluate all candidates, each of the three branches will establish a Technical Committee composed of five individuals recognized in the legal field. This committee will select ten semifinalist candidates and then apply a random lottery process to reduce the number of candidates while respecting gender parity.
*. Once the candidates are selected, the Committees will send their lists to the authority of each branch of the Union for approval and submission to the Senate.
*. The Senate will receive the nominations and forward the lists to the National Electoral Institute no later than February 12, 2025. Those elected will take the oath of office before the Senate on September 1, 2025.
*. Ministers will serve for 12 years, and the presidency of the Supreme Court will be renewed every two years, rotating based on the votes received by each candidate in the respective election, with the presidency going to those with the highest votes.
*. Magistrates and judges will serve for nine years and may be reelected consecutively at the end of their term.
*. The labor rights of the officials of the Federal Judiciary and Mexican states will be fully respected.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: La Jornada – EFE – Expansion Politica
