Mexico City.- Senator Ricardo Monreal refuted the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Margaret Sattertwaite, who last week expressed her concern about President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s judicial reform initiative.
Sattertwaite warned that the reform would impact the functioning of the judiciary by subjecting the selection mechanism for judges to a procedure in which political considerations could override the merits of a candidate.
“It is important to highlight that the judicial reform proposed by the President of the Republic is based on the fact that the appointment system he proposes contemplates the possibility that judges with adequate experience and knowledge be selected for these positions, which will allow for the effective administration of justice,” Monreal argued in a written statement.
The next head of the Morena federal deputation prepared a position on the statements of the UN Special Rapporteur and assured that the Executive’s initiative “contemplates different mechanisms that are aimed at guaranteeing judicial independence and proposes clear and objective procedures, according to which the election of all members of the Judicial Branch of the Mexican State will be carried out.
“One of the crucial aspects of this reform,” he noted, “is the clarity in the definition of the selection mechanisms that will be implemented as part of the reform for the popular election of judges, magistrates and ministers, since, on the one hand, the democratic election process will be assessed by an independent authority such as the National Electoral Institute and, at the same time, the appropriate conditions will be created for the effective participation of citizens in the democratic mechanism that will be used.”
The parliamentarian added that “as provided for in the initiative specifically for the election of ministers and the president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, it will be up to the Senate of the Republic to make the respective call detailing the procedure in its entirety, conferring on it the power to verify that the candidates comply with the eligibility requirements.”
In his contribution, Monreal said that it should be highlighted that “the election system proposed contemplates the possibility of including control and accountability mechanisms to ensure that judicial officials fulfill their responsibilities and carry out their jurisdictional activity in an objective and impartial manner.
“In this way,” he added, “the proposed changes guarantee independent, transparent mechanisms to ensure that candidates have sufficient capacity to perform their duties.”
PAN seeks ‘popular courts’
The PAN federal deputation will propose the creation of “popular courts” so that citizens can influence the sentencing of “certain crimes.”
In view of the discussion of the reform to the Judicial Branch – scheduled for Wednesday, August 14 – the PAN members will demand that the Morena bench incorporate the proposal as a dissenting vote in the ruling that is eventually approved.
PAN deputy Héctor Saúl Téllez announced the opposition group’s rejection of the popular election of judges and ministers contained in the reform promoted by President López Obrador.
“We are going to bring an alternative proposal to the discussion: we are going to establish a dissenting vote in the opinion so that the alternative proposal of National Action on the subject of judicial reform is attached and this dissenting vote can be discussed, together with the opinion and in the plenary session of the next legislature, in which we are going to propose an alternative reform,” explained the parliamentarian.
A member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Téllez said that in the proposal, the PAN will suggest the creation of “popular courts” in which “the active participation of the citizen will be completely active at the time of judging and participating in the sentencing of those guilty of certain crimes.”
Regarding the controversial point associated with the election of judges by popular vote, the PAN deputy considered that the selection would have to be through an independent committee in which the Powers of the Union and organizations dedicated to the field of administration of justice, such as bar associations, colleges and also public universities, would have to participate.
“This committee can be created autonomously and independently, so that it can assign filters and criteria for suitability requirements, where the best profiles are selected to be ministers. Popular election does not guarantee autonomy, it opens doors for the powers that be to participate in the selection of these profiles.”
Six of the 18 opinions on judicial reform have already been approved by the House of Representatives’ Constitutional Affairs Committee. Three more will be considered next Friday.
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