Mexico City, (EFE) .- The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) recommended not replicating the Mexican model of popular election of judges and magistrates in other countries of the region, after verifying multiple problems in the first process of this type in Mexico, in which only 13% of the voters participated.
In its preliminary report, the mission affirmed that the model is not preceded worldwide and that far from strengthening justice, it could weaken its impartiality, independence and effectiveness.
“The mission does not recommend that this model of selection of judges be replicated for other countries in the region,” says the document, which also questions the suitability of candidate’s profiles, since standardized examinations have not been applied in the selection processes.
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On June 1, the first elections of more than 880 federal judicial positions were held, among which nine ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) were elected, the result of a constitutional reform of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The first results of the unprecedented judicial election indicates that the ruling will control the main instances of the new Judiciary, with related candidates dominating the positions in the Supreme Court and the newly created court of judicial discipline.
Low participation and high nullity of votes
In addition, the OAS transmitted its concern about the null and unmarked votes, which represented 10.80% of the election and stipulated that it was due to the short time in which these elections were developed.
Although the campaign of the unprecedented judicial elections had the dissemination by the candidates and the National Electoral Institute (INE), the mission, composed of 16 observers, said that days before the vote, the complaints were multiplied due to the distribution of “accordions” with listings of candidates advised to vote.
If this action is proven, the MOE in its report expressed its reprobation to be a “vote coercion”, so the body will remain aware of the investigations that the competent authorities must carry out.
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He also warned that this model encourages that judicial decisions are taken for electoral purposes and not in technical criteria, allowing re -election and establishing nine -year mandates for district judges and circuit magistrates.
“The lack of stability in office could affect the independent action of justice operators and that the need to re -elected could lead to judges and judges to fail in accordance with what they estimate that they are the preferences of their electorate and not based on legal criteria,” he said.
Regarding the composition of the new Supreme Court of Justice, the MOE stressed that six of the nine new ministers were proposed by an Executive Commission and three were already part of the Court, which raises doubts about the real autonomy of the highest court.
“The mission took note that agencies such as the United Nations Organization (UN) and the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also expressed their concerns about the compatibility of the reform with the international standards of judicial independence,” the report considered.
For the next judicial elections, scheduled for 2027, the OAS warned that they could coincide with the elections throughout the country and, if the electoral calendar was not modified, the risk of partisan influences would increase.
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