Mexico City.– Mexico is on its way to becoming the only one of the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that will elect its constitutional judges by popular vote.
The above, if the initiative that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to Congress on February 5 is approved, by which the nine Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), as well as more than 1,650 judges and federal magistrates, would be elected at the polls.
All of these judges are empowered to rule on the constitutionality of laws and acts of authority, although the last word belongs to the Court.
None of the other 37 OECD countries submit this type of appointment to a popular vote, but instead apply various selection methods that involve the three Powers and, sometimes, independent committees.
Usually, Supreme or Constitutional Court judges are appointed by the Executive and confirmed by Congress or one of its chambers, in some cases, following recommendations from the Judiciary itself, according to a review.
For judges lower than the Supreme Courts, internal appointments from the Judicial Councils or other judicial bodies prevail, with the notable exception of the United States, where all federal judges are appointed by the Executive and confirmed by the Senate.
Japan is the only OECD member that allows some type of popular participation, but not for the original appointment, but for ratification.
The fifteen members of the Japanese Supreme Court must appear on the ballot in the general election following their appointment. But on 25 previous occasions, not a single judge lost his position due to popular rejection, including eleven who were confirmed in 2021.
In the United States there are still elections for judges, but at the level of state or local courts, and only in some entities. Certain OECD countries, such as Hungary and Poland, have been criticized for political interference in the appointment and control of courts.
In Mexico, the ministers of the Court were appointed only by Congress between 1917 and 1928, when the power of appointment passed to the Executive, with ratification by the Senate.
The judges and magistrates, meanwhile, were appointed directly by the Court from 1917 to 1994, when the Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) was created.
Since then, these judges have been appointed through competitive examinations organized by the CJF, almost always exclusive to personnel from the Judiciary itself.
López Obrador’s constitutional reform would eliminate the CJF to divide it into two: a new Judicial Disciplinary Court (TJD), made up of five magistrates also elected by popular vote, and a “judicial administration body”, which would maintain the functions of the CJF, except for disciplinary ones, with one member appointed by the Executive, one by the Senate and three by the Court.
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