Mexican president signs controversial law to elect all judges – DNyuz

President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador signed a controversial law on Sunday making the country the first to elect all of its judges through popular vote.

Outgoing leftist leader Lopez Obrador signed the decree in a video posted on social media, praising the “historic day.”

“We need justice for everyone,” Lopez Obrador said. “To ensure that there is no corruption in the judiciary, so that judges, magistrates and judges literally apply the principle that there is nothing outside the law and no one is above the law.”

He was joined by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, his closest ally, who will replace him on October 1. The governing coalition won a landslide election in June, giving it large majorities in both houses of Congress.

Controversial law sparks protests

and move to another location after protesters stormed the Senate last week.

In addition to increased tensions within the country, the judicial reforms have also led to diplomatic tensions with key trading partners and frustrated investors.

Opponents argue that the reforms will undermine democratic checks and balances.

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

In August, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said the changes could pose a “grave risk” to Mexican democracy and allow criminals to exploit “politically motivated and inexperienced judges.”

Elected judges may be susceptible to pressure

Lopez Obrador has frequently criticized the judiciary since taking office in 2018, particularly the country’s Supreme Court, arguing that the overhaul was necessary to better serve the interests of ordinary citizens.

“It was said that we were living in a democracy, but no, it was an oligarchy that had the power. They were the ones who had the power, those at the top, a minority with a facade of democracy,” he said in the video announcing the law.

However, critics fear the law will end the political independence of the judiciary and leave elected judges open to political influence and vulnerable to pressure from powerful drug cartels.

The publication of the constitutional reform in the Mexican Official Gazette marks the beginning of a process to prepare for the first elections for federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, scheduled for June 2025.

km/km (AFP, Reuters)

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