In a series of resignation letters published Wednesday, eight of the 11 justices on Mexico’s Supreme Court announced they would step down from their posts rather than participate in a contentious election of thousands of judges next year. The justices will serve out the remainder of their terms, most of which end in August.
The announcements were the latest salvo in a standoff over a set of changes to laws governing the judiciary that was approved by the ruling party and its allies in September and that promises to end the system by which Mexico’s judges are chosen so far and the way they operate.
The resignations follow a series of attacks on the courts by President Claudia Sheinbaum and prominent members of her party, Morena, who have said the judges’ response to the legal changes is motivated by their desire to protect their own privileges.
“It’s a political message that is being sent not only by the Supreme Court, but by the entire structure of the judiciary,” said Fernanda Caso, a political analyst in Mexico City. “This resignation and the decision not to participate as a matter of dignity is in response to the attacks and the way they have been treated.”
Among other changes, the redesign of the judiciary requires that all judges in the country be elected by popular vote and will subject them to review by a disciplinary court made up of elected officials, who will have the power to investigate and remove judges.
Supporters say the measure will help stop corruption in the judiciary. Critics say it will undermine judicial independence and give Morena control over a key counterweight to its power. The measure has been the subject of more than 500 legal challenges by federal judges and other critics, some of whom claim it violates the Constitution.
“This resignation does not imply my agreement with the separation from the position for which I was originally appointed until December 10, 2030,” wrote the president of the Court, Norma Piña, in her resignation letter, “but rather an act of congruence and respect for the constitutional text that governs us today.”
Piña was a frequent target of anger from Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who preceded Sheinbaum as president of Mexico and who initially proposed the changes and pushed to redesign the judicial system.
“The demolition of the judiciary is not the way,” Piña, who has opposed the reform, said in a televised address last month.
One of the judges who announced his resignation, Luis María Aguilar Morales, will finish his term in November. In Mexico, magistrates served for 15 years, but under the new rules, their term will be reduced to 12 years.
As part of the redesign of the judicial system, voters will elect about half of the country’s 7,000 judges in June 2025, including Supreme Court justices. It will be a massive and likely costly undertaking that no other modern democracy has attempted before.
The Supreme Court will next week consider approving a resolution that would invalidate key elements of the proposed redesign of the judicial system, creating a potential conflict with the executive and legislative branches. While it would uphold popular election of Supreme Court justices, the measure would declare the election of thousands of federal and local judges unconstitutional.
If eight of the 11 justices approve the resolution, it would be technically enforceable, legal experts said, though the leader of the ruling party in the lower house of Congress has already said lawmakers would not obey such a ruling.
“There will be an election of judges,” the party’s leader, Ricardo Monreal, told reporters earlier this week, saying the court’s move to potentially block elements of the amendments was “illegal, arbitrary, bordering on a constitutional barbarity.”
The resignations add to a sense of uncertainty in the Supreme Court, which is already “very weakened,” said Sergio López Ayllón, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. There are concerns that in the months leading up to the June election, the ruling majority could simply ignore any of the court’s rulings.
“We don’t know if the ministers will abide by what they decide,” said López Ayllón, “or not.”
Source: nytimes
