Mexico is poised to amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected as part of a judicial overhaul championed by the outgoing president but slammed by critics as a blow to the country’s rule of law.

Mexico is poised to amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected as part of a judicial overhaul championed by the outgoing president but slammed by critics as a blow to the country’s rule of law.

The amendment passed Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday, and by Thursday it already had been ratified by the required majority of the country’s 32 state legislatures. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would sign and publish the constitutional change on Sunday.

Legal experts and international observers have said the move could endanger Mexico’s democracy by stacking courts with judges loyal to the ruling Morena party, which has a strong grip on both Congress and the presidency after big electoral wins in June.

  • @nevemsenkiEnglish
    101•3 months ago

    Speedrunning populism, let’s see how that goes. Cartels electing judges is my bet.

    • @WhatAmLemmyEnglish
      69•3 months ago

      If that’s the case then the Cartels already elect/make most of the politicians — whom select the judges — so there’s not really much of a difference, is there?

      • @[email protected]English
        7•3 months ago

        Yes there is. You need the entire country for national elections and there is one government from one parliament. You might have the same on state level, where interference is easier. But you need thousands of judges in thousands of districts. That will become very easy to interfere with.

        But a corrupted muncipal parliament does not have the saem effect, like a corrupted judge, who can let his buddies off free, while imprisoning journalists and other critical dissidents against the cartels.

        • @[email protected]English
          20•3 months ago

          like a corrupted judge, who can let his buddies off free

          US “judge” Cannon enters the chat.

          • @FrowingFostekEnglish
            6•3 months ago

            I just like the idea of a corrupt judge, in the US, getting primaried by a working class person. Obviously, with the correct counsil, if elected.

            I want to believe those are the kinds of people this legislation is designed to support, in a perfect system.

            If not, its just more fluff to jam up and backlog the beurocracy.

            How it will play out is another story. Maybe Mexico will try it out.

            • @TriashaEnglish
              2•3 months ago

              I can say that unqualified judges generally cause the corruption more than the qualified ones.