In Mexico City thousands of people demonstrated against a judicial reform, according to which judges should be elected by the people in the future. At the beginning of the discussions on the amendment in the Mexican Senate on Sunday (local time), judges and law students in particular took to the streets. reforms pursued by outgoing left-wing head of state Andrés Manuel López Obrador had already been approved by the House of Representatives.
The vote in the Senate is expected on Wednesday. However, the ruling party Morena also has a comfortable majority in this parliamentary chamber. The reform provides, among other things, for the direct election of judges of the Supreme Court and other courts.
Supporters of the reform argue that the country’s justice system has so far served primarily the political and economic elite – and not the general public. The newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take over as López Obrador’s preferred successor on October 1, is behind the project.
The presiding judge of the Supreme Court indirectly criticizes the plan
Opponents, however, cite fears that Mexico’s judicial system could be dangerously politicized and its independence compromised. The US government has also warned against the reform, pointing out that it would jeopardize investors’ trust in the Mexican legal system.
The chief justice of Mexico’s Supreme Court, Norma Piña, also felt compelled to make one of her rare public statements on Sunday. Without explicitly mentioning the reform plan, she spoke of the risk of “destruction” of the judiciary.
The lawyer presented two alternative proposals for judicial reform in online networks. “It’s still possible today,” she stressed. “We can change things.” The week before, Piña had announced that her court would examine whether it had the authority to stop the reform. (AFP)
