Judges reject the reform of the judiciary and demand independence

The National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the Federation rejected the initiative to reform the Judicial Branchl driven by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and supported by the future president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

Judge Juana Fuentes said that this is an absurdity that threatens democracy and warned that, if the reform is approved, they will use all legal mechanisms to stop it. “It is unacceptable, it puts democracy at risk and could bring the republic to its knees,” she said.

Standing

In the framework of the Day of the Lawyer, dozens of judges and magistrates of circuits are demonstrated against the reform of the Judicial Branch. They raised slogans demanding respect for career judges, independence of the judiciary and the Constitution.

Even if the reform is approved, the women and men who work in the country’s courts and tribunals will have to consider the courses of action required to correct the absurdity, said Juana Fuentes.

In her speech, she added that the union is standing proud of its history, of fulfilling the constitutional mandate of protecting people against arbitrary power, and also aware of the great debt of justice and the need to improve conditions so that people who suffer greater inequalities can access it.

When the Judicial Branch of the Federation ceases to be independent, ceases to be a check and balance on public power, when it is at the mercy of ideologies and personal designs, no one of us who live in this country, including those who today promote and encourage its dismantling, no one will have any security in the respect of our human rights, he warned.

Juana Fuentes, director of the National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the FederationHe added that the prudent silence that the judges have assumed as a rule of conduct, because they are not political contenders, has been used to attack them, but he assured that this should not be understood as a sign of weakness, nor of acceptance of slander.

And the prosecutors?

The López Obrador government seeks to ensure that the reform of the Judicial Branch to be approved in Septemberand, in the last month of his mandate, although with the new legislature.

Lopez Obrador He has argued that the changes seek to combat corruption and remove the neoliberal effect.
Cristina Reyes, litigation director at Mexico United Against Crime, added that the reform of the judiciary will not in any way resolve the impunity in 99 percent of the crimes committed in Mexico, the above by highlighting that of 100 percent of the crimes committed, only 10 percent are reported to the prosecutor’s offices and, of those reported crimes, only 1 percent reach the Power of attorney to be brought before a judge.

“The vast majority of crimes… In fact, if we look at specific crimes, there are crimes that are never reported, that have 100 percent impunity, and this is often due to causes attributable to the same authority, because people consider that it is a lack of time to go and report, they think that the prosecutor’s offices are not going to do anything, that they are not going to help them, and well, from there we have a very important challenge for the prosecutors themselves, to really combat impunity,” he explained.

Criminal proceedings

In addition, the election of new judges could pause, delay, and even restart trials from scratch. Cristina Reyes, litigation director at Mexico United Against Crime, explained that there is a risk that the Power of attorney decide not to move these cases any further, precisely because there is a principle in the accusatory criminal system, which is the principle of immediacy.

Unfortunately, he said, the election of judges opens up the risk that the charisma or political popularity of those who want to occupy a position within the Judiciary will matter more than their experience, knowledge and technical capacity.

Mexico United Against Crime is working on a campaign to highlight the dark spots of the reform, and is urging people to take the changes very seriously.

Since 2014, I joined the newspaper EL DEBATE as a reporter. That year, I worked in the Mexico-World news section for the print edition in Culiacán. Later, I worked as a local reporter in Guasave, where I covered the current affairs, social and police sections. I joined the digital section as a web reporter for the Soy Carmín portal at soycarmin.com and later I was editor of the En Pareja portal with the page enpareja.com. On both sites I wrote about topics related to the lifestyle of women, couples and families. Since 2017, I have been a reporter for the Investigative Unit for EL DEBATE, focusing on issues of transparency and the fight against corruption, social networks and public image; the agricultural and fishing sector, health, economy, legislation, indigenous people, poverty and housing. Prior to my foray into the print media, I was part of Radio Sinaloa as a host for the youth program “Poder Joven Radio.” I have attended national workshops on security for journalists, the new criminal justice system, the Mexican electoral system, management and analysis of urban mobility and urban planning, editorial design and social networks. I also have a degree in Graphic and Multimedia Design from the Universidad del Desarrollo Profesional and an academic specialty in Editorial Design.

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