Mexico is set to become the world\u2019s only country to let voters elect all of their judges, sparking sharp disagreement about whether the reforms will diminish or strengthen criminal influence over the courts.<\/p>\n
The government says the unprecedented popular vote for judges and magistrates at all levels \u2014 including the Supreme Court \u2014 is needed to address rampant corruption and impunity.<\/p>\n
Critics argue it will undermine the judiciary\u2019s independence and warn the participation of controversial candidates \u2014 such as a former lawyer for notorious drug lord Joaquin \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzman \u2014 means it is doomed to backfire.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, voters will choose several thousand federal, district and local judges and magistrates. Another election for the remainder will be held in 2027.<\/p>\n
Not just anybody can run for one of these jobs. Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs, what is termed \u201ca good reputation,\u201d and no criminal record.<\/p>\n
Opponents, including judicial workers, have held a series of mass street protests in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the reforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice is not something you vote for\u201d, and it needs people with experience and specialised knowledge, said Olimpia Rojas Luviano, a 28-year-old lawyer.<\/p>\n
But Maria del Rocio Morales, a judge who is standing to be a magistrate in the capital, said she was happy to take part.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the good of my city and my country, I will do it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
President Claudia Sheinbaum has played down signs that many voters are unlikely to take part in the vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are very intelligent and know who they are going to vote for,\u201d the veteran left-winger said.<\/p>\n
According to surveys by the El Universal and El Pais newspapers, only half of voters know the election date and only four out of 10 are certain they will participate.<\/p>\n
\u2018Rotten\u2019 judiciary
\nWhile judicial elections are not new \u2014 the United States and Bolivia, for instance, allow voters to pick some judges \u2014 Mexico will be the only nation to elect them at all levels.<\/p>\n
The reform was championed by Sheinbaum\u2019s predecessor and mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who criticised the judicial system as \u201crotten,\u201d corrupt and serving the interests of the political and economic elite.<\/p>\n
Mexico has a long history of human rights violations that remain unpunished, including the disappearance of 43 students from a teacher training college in 2014, allegedly at the hands of drug traffickers and corrupt authorities.<\/p>\n
Despite dozens of arrests, there have been no convictions.<\/p>\n
Mexico\u2019s criminal justice system \u201cis profoundly ineffective at ensuring accountability for criminal violence and abuses by security forces,\u201d according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
Lopez Obrador frequently clashed with the judiciary, in particular the Supreme Court, which impeded some of his policies.<\/p>\n
Sheinbaum, who replaced him in October, is a staunch supporter of the sweeping changes. Her opponents say they will eliminate democratic checks and balances.<\/p>\n
Sheinbaum\u2019s ruling party already dominates both houses of Congress.<\/p>\n
Opponents warn that elected judges could be more vulnerable to pressure from criminals, in a country where powerful drug cartels regularly use bribery and intimidation to influence officials.<\/p>\n
Rights group Defensorxs has identified around 20 candidates it considers \u201chigh risk\u201d for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse, even though one of the requirements for running is to have no criminal record.<\/p>\n
These people include Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for \u201cEl Chapo,\u201d the Sinaloa cartel co-founder imprisoned in the United States.<\/p>\n
Defensorxs describes her as a candidate who \u201cdefends alleged drug traffickers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delgado, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Chihuahua, told AFP: \u201cEvery person has the right to counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mexico is set to become the world\u2019s only country to let voters elect all of their judges, sparking sharp disagreement about whether the reforms will diminish or strengthen criminal influence over the courts. The government says the unprecedented popular vote for judges and magistrates at all levels \u2014 including the Supreme Court \u2014 is needed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9556,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9554\/revisions\/9556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}