Mexico City.- The National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (JUFED) denounced before the UN that the judicial reform is regressive and only seeks to concentrate the three powers of the Union in a single person.
At the start of the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Federal Judge Abigail Ocampo Álvarez, National Director of Specialized Court Services at JUFED, stated that the presidential initiative violates the human rights of those who administer justice.
“Today I say to the world: this reform to the Mexican judiciary is regressive, it affects the living conditions and human, economic, social, civil and labor rights in the lives of judges and its only purpose is to concentrate the three powers of the Union in a single person,” he said during his speech. “This reform to the Mexican judiciary, proposed by the President of the Republic and endorsed by a parliamentary majority… has multiple regressive effects and violations of human rights, among which judicial independence stands out, since the popular election of judges can increase the risk of candidates and judges seeking to please those who propose them, their campaign sponsors, including organized crime, or the voters themselves, which implies issuing resolutions that violate independence and impartiality.”
Ocampo Álvarez said that since 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has dedicated his morning press conferences and social media to carrying out media attacks, demonstrations, direct intimidation and insinuations of the illegality of the rulings of federal judges.
She said that the media strategy “results in humiliating treatment,” alters the mood, generates anxiety, distress and emotional instability in the justice system, and affects mental health, compromising the independence of judges to resolve their cases. According to Judge Abigail Ocampo Álvarez, the reform also affects the life plans and families of justice system administrators, because it proposes to dismiss 1,600 federal judges and does not allow them to practice law for two years, in violation of the human right to work and human dignity. The dismissal, she added, ignores acquired labor rights, such as the judicial career, salaries, additional benefits and social security, as it is an unjustified dismissal. “The families of all judges are indirect victims of this reform, first, because of the media attacks that are made public and, second, because losing their job implies the violation of human rights of the members of their family, such as education, health, housing, property, recreation, security, among others, because the remuneration they receive for this work as defenders of human rights is the main means of support for them and their family, so it is logical that the reform also undermines the economic stability of the family,” he said. He added that another of the damages is to social security and the right to retirement, because the members of the PJF will lose all health benefits upon being dismissed and the years worked are unknown, since only a minimum compensation is proposed. “In addition, all retired people are also affected, because there would be a reduction in the pension they currently enjoy,” added Ocampo.
They propose to increase the number of judges
Former Attorney General of the Republic, Diego Valadés, considered that a judicial reform should consider the expansion of the number of judges to combat the backlog of case files. During his speech at the 57th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, the emeritus researcher at the UNAM Institute of Legal Research said that the average number of judges in Mexico is lower than in other countries. “It is worth bearing in mind that, knowing the need for this reform and knowing the aspects that must be addressed, such as, for example, the number of judges in the country is 5 per 100 thousand inhabitants, compared to the European average, for example, which is 19, or other cases within our own hemisphere such as Costa Rica, which are 25, that is, 5 times more than in Mexico. “Combating the backlog without a significant expansion of the judging staff is less than impossible,” he said. He also mentioned that another aspect that affects litigation is the thousands of law schools in Mexico that are outside of any regulation. “We also know that there are other limitations that affect access to justice and its exercise, such as the case of having around 2,300 law schools in Mexico, which lack any type of regulation regarding their professional quality and we also lack the mandatory membership of lawyers, which is why there is no body in charge of certifying professional quality and ethical suitability.” “of those who litigate in the courts,” said Valadés. Constitutionalist Diego Valadés said that these elements that should be considered for the reform have been proposed by the Federal Judicial Council, the academy and the country’s legal forums, but were not heard at any time for the elaboration of the initiative or opinions of the reform.
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