Cuernavaca, Mexico.- Court Minister Lenia Batres ruled out the risk of interference by organized crime in the election of judges proposed by the reform of the Judicial Branch, stating that there will be no money or corruption involved.
When visiting Cuernavaca, Morelos, to participate in the “Informative Forum on the reform of the Judicial Branch,” she was approached by local journalists who questioned her about concerns and risks regarding the popular election of judges and magistrates.
In response to concerns about campaign financing, the official of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) assured that this will not be necessary.
“There are no campaigns (for judges) that require money, which is also very important to know. They will be able to participate and, moreover, we are still waiting to find out what the Congress of the Union decides on what conditions will be put in place for being able to register and how these candidates will be selected,” he explained.
“But rather it is open not only to them, but to all professionals who meet these requirements and I believe that this opportunity to open up, to allow much more diverse profiles to participate, will have a result that is ultimately what should concern us all, a stronger Judiciary that can resolve the justice problems of our population,” he added.
– Are you worried that organized crime could finance something in the future?, they asked.
“No, if there is no money, there is no organized crime financing anything, because there is no financing to give. So far, what is proposed are campaigns through forums, through activities via the Internet and through the use of radio and official broadcasting space, nothing more,” he answered.
If society is guaranteed an end to corruption, why do many people talk about simulating this reform?, he was asked.
“It is a reform that democratises the Judiciary and is actually the main condition for its elimination, because corruption is not a risk of entering, the problem is the existing corruption, so we have to get rid of it and the way in which we can eliminate it is precisely through democratisation, which allows us all to take care of the Judiciary that no one is currently taking care of,” he said.
In the Plaza de Armas in Cuernavaca, Lenia Batres slipped when citing the name of José María La Fragua, whom she called Manuel, who said that he was a jurist elected by popular vote like Ignacio Vallarta and Ignacio Ramírez.
He said that this practice has been successful in other countries.
“In the United States, 43 of the 50 states vote for judges by popular vote. In Japan, they are elected; the Cabinet proposes the equivalent of ministers and submits them to a popular vote in ordinary elections,” he said.
Among the PJ’s shortcomings, he mentioned million-dollar expenses, discriminatory and unequal treatment, distrust, slowness, that it is classist, elitist and racial, that it incurs in corruption, invades the faculties of other powers, in addition to falling into impunity and nepotism.
The minister was accompanied by Gerardo Fernández Noroña, senator-elect; Ernestina Godoy, senator-elect; Margarita González Saravia, who is expected to be the next governor of Morelos; Leonel Godoy, who is expected to assume a federal deputy position; and Antonio Sorela Castillo, researcher and human rights defender.
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