Mexico City.- The six main associations that represent attorneys, clerks, judges and magistrates of the Federal Judicial Branch (PJF) accused the discussion forums on judicial reform of being a strategy to delay the protests of the judicial staff.
In a joint statement, the associations reiterated their rejection of the federal executive’s initiative and the proposal to elect judges by popular vote, because they said that they do not need the ballot box to judge.
“We have observed that the national dialogues on the constitutional reform of the judiciary are a delaying strategy with the aim of stopping the protests of all members of the judiciary,” they said in a statement.
“For almost six years we have been victims of slander, we have been threatened, intimidated through continuous public discourse of verbal aggression and hatred.”
The text is signed by the National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (JUFED), the Mexican Association of Women Judges (AMMJM) and the Mexican Association of Female Judges AC
Also, the College of Secretaries and Clerks of the Federal Judiciary (CSAJF) and the associations Independent Justice (JI) and We are all guarantors of the Constitution.
The statement was released on Friday, shortly after the protest carried out by judicial personnel on the steps of the San Lázaro Palace of Justice.
The signatories issued this statement in response to what they consider to be a real threat of termination of their duties.
“We are not politicians and we reject any invitation to share political power. Judging requires capacity, independence and autonomy. We do not insult. We do not use ballot boxes to judge or persecute,” they said.
“We do not use fences or riot squads. Our strength comes from reason, from words, with the support of the Constitution and the law. With sentences we protect the human rights of the people of Mexico. It is our power: to interpret laws, to condemn criminals when there is due process and evidence. We do not defend ideologies, neither our own nor those of others.”
During this morning’s demonstration, federal judge Juana Fuentes Velázquez warned that “both the rule of law and human rights are at risk of perhaps irreversible setbacks.”
“The reform promoted by the head of the Executive Branch proposes to end judicial independence through the popular election of federal judges, the creation of a supra disciplinary court and the elimination of the judicial career and the guarantees of stability that must be granted,” he said before more than 200 attendees.
He responded that the claims made against the integrity of the judges and their decisions are false.
“It is absolutely false that 1,700 federal judges are corrupt. Neither are we nor those who collaborate with us. We therefore demand that in cases where there is evidence of corruption, the corresponding complaint be filed in accordance with the law,” he said.
“It is false that we represent the interests of elites or that we systematically decide against people who suffer the greatest inequalities or who are in a vulnerable situation. The evolution of jurisprudential criteria regarding human rights has been progressive and in accordance with the principles that govern the matter.”
He also rejected the idea that the judges have turned their backs on the people of Mexico, because if that were true, they would not go to them to have their children vaccinated; to be provided with vital medicines; or to ask for the defense of their rights in the face of countless abuses and acts contrary to the law.
“It is false that we release ‘criminals’. We release people whose guilt has not been proven, we protect today and always those who are persecuted without evidence, with the Constitution and other applicable regulations as a basis,” he added.
“It is false that the election of judges by popular vote is the best way to solve the serious structural problems of justice in Mexico, when we have a judicial career system and public competitive examinations to select people with the greatest experience and knowledge as judges.”
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