The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its deep concern on Tuesday about the controversial judicial reform that establishes the popular election of judges, and stated that it will “monitor” its implementation to ensure that the independence of the Judiciary is respected.
“Tending towards the democratization of justice cannot go against another basic principle of the inter-American system, which is that of judicial independence,” Andrea Pochak, the organization’s rapporteur for Mexico, warned during the hearing.
The hearing was held in Washington following the complaint filed with the IACHR by judges and workers of the Judicial Branch against the reform enacted on September 15 by Andrés Manuel López Obrador and which has the support of the new president Claudia Sheinbaum.
The Government maintains that citizens should be able to elect judges and defends the constitutionality of the reform, given that it was approved by a large majority in Congress.
But judicial personnel denounce the interference of the Executive in justice, as they assure that the ruling party will promote its candidates for the elections of judges that will begin in 2025.
“The Commission is obviously very concerned about this situation, about this judicial reform,” said Pochak after hearing the versions of both the plaintiffs and the Government.
Read: Court dismisses unconstitutionality actions against judicial reform
Respect for the meritocracy of judges
The rapporteur pointed out that any reform aimed at democratizing the judicial system must respect “basic principles” such as the meritocracy of judges and avoid interference by other powers.
He also warned that similar reforms in other countries have shown that there are “risks” of “greater delegitimacy of the judicial system” due to the elections of judges.
Pochak said that the IACHR will continue to “monitor” the implementation of the reform, while pledging to maintain a “permanent dialogue with the State” because Mexico has always been “very respectful” of the inter-American human rights system.
Much more critical, Commissioner Carlos Bernal said that the judicial reform is “a textbook example of the abuse of constitutionalism” because the Government is “trying to dismantle the checks and balances on the Executive.”
“A Government that sweeps the presidency of the Republic at the polls and sweeps the polls for all popularly elected positions, is it not suspected that it also wants the popular election of judges?” he asked.
In her morning press conference this Thursday, President Claudia Sheinbaum questioned the IACHR for hosting this hearing and defended that “Mexico is a free, sovereign and independent country and the people of Mexico decide, in accordance with the Constitution, what the constitutional reforms.
“The speed is striking, from my point of view. There are cases that go to the Inter-American Commission that take years to be addressed and now this reform of the Judiciary did not take even weeks. “How much interest!” he expressed.
With information from EFE
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