Tomorrow, September 1, the Congress of the Union will formally begin the work of what will be the LXVI and LXVII Legislatures of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic and its new members will be in charge of discussing and approving some of the reforms proposed by the president. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador last February 5th.
The first of these will be the controversial reform to the Judicial Branch, which establishes that the election of judges will be carried out by popular vote; for this purpose, two sessions are expected to be held on Sunday: the first to install the General Congress and later the first ordinary session will be opened to inform the Plenary of the minutes of this reform that was endorsed by the Government Commission.
The Morena supporters, led by their coordinator Ricardo Monreal They are already preparing to carry out the legislative process of this project in a neat manner, which is expected to be approved without any obstacles, because together with its allies from the PT and the PVEM, the official party will have 73 percent of the seats, which will exceed the qualified majority required to reform the Constitution.
However, based on the forums and some observations that have been made to the legislators from the National Palace, the project that is approved by September 3 at the latest will be slightly different from the original proposal.
But what does this reform propose?
The bill provides for the replacement of the Judicial Council with the creation of two bodies: the Judicial Administration Body and the Judicial Disciplinary Court.
The Judicial Disciplinary Court will be responsible for receiving complaints, investigating and, if necessary, sanctioning ministers, magistrates and judges.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Administration Body will have independence, as well as technical and management autonomy, to issue its resolutions.
This body will operate separately, both functionally and organically, from the Supreme Court.
The reform of the Judicial Branch also proposes that judges be elected by popular vote, through open elections. In addition, the positions of magistrates and ministers will be subject to a vote.
An extraordinary election is planned for 2025, during the first year of the government of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, and another election in 2027, to renew ministers, judges and magistrates of the Judiciary, in which the officials who currently occupy the position will be able to participate.
In the case of the ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), the magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal, and those of the Disciplinary Tribunal, they would be elected at the national level in ordinary elections. For this purpose, there will be 30 candidates proposed by the three Powers of the Union.
That is, for these positions, the Executive Branch will propose 10 candidates. The Legislative Branch, up to five candidates for each chamber; and the Judicial Branch may propose up to 10 candidates, through the full SCJN.
In the case of the 1,633 Circuit magistrates and District judges, they will be elected in each of the 32 judicial circuits in ordinary elections, from six equal candidacies per position.
The reform also proposes reducing the number of female and male justices in the Supreme Court, from 11 to just nine members.
The SCJN’s term of office is also stipulated to be reduced from 15 to 12 years. The life pension for ministers would be eliminated and there would be an adjustment to the maximum salary received.
Among the requirements to be elected Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, one must have, on the day of publication of the call for applications, a legally issued professional degree of law graduate, a general grade point average of at least eight points or its equivalent and nine points or its equivalent in the subjects related to the position for which one is applying in the bachelor’s, specialty, master’s or doctorate, and professional practice of at least five years in the exercise of legal activity.
Each Branch will integrate an Evaluation Committee made up of five people recognized in the legal activity, which will receive the files of the applicants, evaluate compliance with the constitutional and legal requirements and identify the best evaluated people who have the technical knowledge necessary for the performance of the position and have distinguished themselves by their honesty, good public reputation, competence and academic and professional background in the exercise of legal activity.
The National Electoral Institute will carry out the election counts, publish the results and deliver certificates of majority to the candidates who obtain the greatest number of votes, assigning the positions alternately between women and men.
It will also declare the validity of the election and send its results to the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation or to the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in the case of electoral magistrates, who will resolve the challenges before the Senate of the Republic installs the first ordinary session of the year of the corresponding election, date on which the elected candidates will take the oath of office before said legislative body.
So far, these are the main points of the presidential proposal, however, it is expected that this bill will undergo minor modifications in the coming days, independently of the one approved on August 20 that creates the figure of the faceless judge.
The proposal, which was dubbed and approved as faceless judges, literally states: “In the case of organized crime, the judicial administration body may take the necessary measures to preserve the security and protect the identity of the judges, in accordance with the procedure established by law.”
It is worth remembering that Ricardo Monreal Avilacoordinator of the cherry bench in the Chamber of Deputies and president of the Political Coordination Board reported on the consensus achieved for the integration of the Board of Directors, which was as follows: President: First Vice President: Sergio Gutierrez Luna, Morena; Second Vice President: Kenia Lopez Rabadan, PAN; Third Vice President: Maria del Carmen Pinete Vargas, PVEM; Secretary: Julieta Villalpando Riquelme, Morena; Secretary: Alan Sahir Marquez Becerra, PAN; Secretary: Nayeli Arlen Fernandez Cruz, PVEM; Secretary: Pedro Vazquez Gonzalez, PT; Secretary: Fuensanta Guadalupe Guerrero Esquivel, PRI; Secretary: Laura Ballesteros, Citizen Movement; Vice Coordinator: Alfonso Ramirez Cuellar; Spokesperson: Francisco Arturo Federico Avila Anaya; Operational Coordinator: Pedro Miguel Haces Barba.
In addition, this Chamber will be made up of 257 Morena deputies, 71 PAN deputies, 60 PVEM deputies, 47 PT, 36 PRI, 27 Movimiento Ciudadano, one PRD and one independent.
Meanwhile, the composition of the Senate Board of Directors for the first year of the first period of the LXVI legislature is as follows: President of the Board of Directors: Gerardo Fernández Noroña (Morena); Vice President: Imelda Castro (Morena); Vice President: Mauricio Vila (PAN); Vice President: Carla Toledo (PRI); Secretary: Verónica Camino (Morena); Secretary: Jasmine Bugarín (Morena); Secretary: Luis Donaldo Colosio (Citizen Movement) and as Secretary: Lizeth Sánchez García (PT).
In the midst of this, the truth is that the protests of the workers of the Judicial Branch are intensifying. These students from the UNAM Law School have already joined the governments of the United States and Canada, as well as their business representatives and various specialists who warn of the risks of this reform and the revision of the T-MEC is imminent. We will see what the new legislators decide.