After Mexico’s first judicial election, spurred by major changes to their constitution, observers are assessing what this remake of the judicial branch could mean for our neighbor to the south.
Turnout in the first of two elections that will let voters decide on all of Mexico’s judges was low, just around 13 percent nationally.
The reshaping of the judiciary is the brain child of Mexico’s previous president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who regularly criticized judges who ruled against him.
His, and current president Claudia Shienbaum’s, ruling political party says putting the judges up for election will root out corruption in Mexico’s courts.
But scholars like Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México political science professor Denise Dresser say the reform weakens checks and balances.
“The politicalization of the judiciary transforms it into a weapon of the ruling party,” Dresser said.
Dresser and other observers spoke at a panel about the judicial elections Friday hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Critics fear not all of the judges elected last weekend have enough experience — and that the process will make it hard for judges who rule against the political party in power to keep their jobs.
“The system of check and balances basically disappears,” said panelist Javier Martín-Reyes, who studies Mexico’s judicial system at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
International businesses could also find themselves in difficult positions thanks to judicial reform, panelists said.
The potential disruption to the judicial branch, and the release of judges with decades of experience, could lead to uncertainty for businesses that find themselves tied up in courts in Mexico.
“If you’re an investor, I think right now you’re going to be very wary,” Dresser said.
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