People will elect Mexico’s judiciary – The Frontier Post

Mexico City (AFP): Mexico lawmakers approved controversial reforms on Wednesday that would make the country the first to allow voters to choose all judges, hours after protesters stormed the Senate to disrupt debate.

Outgoing President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador had championed the reform and criticized the current legal system, saying it only served the interests of the political and economic elite.

The leftist leader welcomed the bill’s approval, saying Mexico would be an “example for the world.”

“It is very important to put an end to corruption and impunity. We will make great progress if the people of Mexico freely elect the judges, the magistrates and the judges,” the 70-year-old told a news conference.

The reform was approved in the early hours of the morning by 86 votes to 41, achieving the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution in an upper house dominated by the ruling Morena party and its allies.

The reforms have led to mass demonstrations, diplomatic tensions and investor unrest.

Senate leader Gerardo Fernandez Norona had declared 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!”

Lopez Obrador, who wanted the bill passed before his close ally Claudia Sheinbaum replaces him on Oct. 1, accused the protesters of protecting the interests of the political elite.

Sheinbaum fully supports the reforms and said Wednesday they would strengthen the justice system.

“The regime of corruption and privilege has increasingly become a thing of the past,” she wrote on the social media platform X.

‘Demolition of the judiciary’

The plan, which has already been approved by the Lower House, must now be approved by 17 of the 32 state congresses, seen as a formality given the political dominance of the governing coalition, before it can be signed by the president.

Opponents, who accuse Lopez Obrador of leading a trend toward democratic backsliding, have held a series of protests against the plan, which would see even Supreme Court justices and other senior judges, as well as local-level judges, elected by popular vote.

Judges must stand for election in 2025 or 2027.

“This does not exist in any other country,” Margaret Satterthwaite, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, told AFP ahead of the vote.

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.

‘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 Mexican 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 essential to protect rights and check the abuse of power.”

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

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