Mexico is the first country to approve popular election of judges

MEXICO CITY: Mexico on Wednesday became the first country in the world to allow voters to elect judges at all levels, after protesters stormed the upper house of parliament and suspended debate on the issue.

Outgoing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador had championed the reform and criticized the current legal system for serving the interests of the political and economic elite.

The reform was approved by 86 votes to 41, the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution. The majority was secured in an upper house dominated by the ruling Morena party and its allies.

The debate over the reform led to mass demonstrations, diplomatic tensions and investor unrest.

Senate leader Gerardo Fernandez Norona called a recess after protesters stormed the upper house and entered the chamber chanting, “The judiciary will not fall.”

Lawmakers were forced to move to a former Senate building, where they resumed their debate as protesters outside chanted, “Mr. Senator, stop the dictator!”

Obrador, who wanted the bill passed before he is replaced on Oct. 1 by his close ally Claudia Sheinbaum, said the protesters were protecting the interests of the political elite.

“What worries those who oppose this reform the most is that they will lose their privileges, because the judiciary is at the service of the powerful, at the service of white-collar crime,” the leftist leader said at a news conference.

‘Demolition of the judiciary’

Opponents, including court staff and law students, have held a series of protests against the plan, which would see even Supreme Court and other senior judges, as well as local-level judges, elected by popular vote.

About 1,600 judges are expected to run for the 2025 or 2027 elections.

“This does not exist in any other country,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

“In some countries, like the US, some state judges are elected, and in other countries, like Bolivia, high-ranking judges are elected,” she told AFP.

According to Satterthwaite, Mexico’s reform puts the country “in a unique position in terms of its method of selecting judges.”

In an unusual public warning, Supreme Court Chief Justice Norma Pina said elected judges could be more vulnerable to pressure from criminals in a country where powerful drug cartels regularly use bribery and intimidation to influence officials.

“Dismantling the judiciary is not the way forward,” she said in a video released Sunday.

Pina said last week that the Supreme Court would discuss whether it has jurisdiction to stop the reforms, though Lopez Obrador has said there is no legal basis to do so.

The reforms were passed last week in the lower house by ruling party lawmakers and their allies, who were forced to gather in a sports centre after protesters blocked access to Congress.

‘Dangerous proposals’

The United States, Mexico’s top trading partner, has warned that the reforms threaten a relationship that depends on investor confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.

The changes could pose a “grave risk” to Mexico’s democracy and allow criminals to “exploit politically motivated and inexperienced judges,” U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said last month.

Financial market analysts say investor concerns about the reforms have contributed to a sharp decline in the value of Mexico’s currency, the peso, which has fallen to a two-year low against the dollar.

Satterthwaite also expressed “deep concern” about the plan, calling access to an independent and impartial judiciary “a human right that is essential for protecting rights and preventing abuse of power.”

“Without strong safeguards against infiltration by organised crime (in the judicial selection process), an electoral system can become vulnerable to such powerful forces,” she warned.

Human Rights Watch has called on lawmakers to reject the “dangerous proposals,” which it said would “seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary and violate international human rights standards.”