The plenary session of the Senate of the Republic approved an agreement of the Board of Directors so that, as soon as the minutes of the Chamber of Deputies are received, These are forwarded directly to the corresponding committees.
This agreement was approved with the intention of opening a fast track to approve in the Senate the constitutional reform initiatives presented by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador last February. Among them, the reform of the Judicial Branch of the Federation.
According to the agreement of the Board, “in the exceptional case that the Senate receives from the co-legislator (Chamber of Deputies), outside of a plenary session, the draft decrees resulting from the opinions that fall on the initiatives referred to in the First Consideration of this Agreement, the Presidency of the Board of Directors (…) will forward them directly to the competent committees and will report to the Plenary in the next immediate session.”
The agreement also instructs the relevant committees to immediately begin analyzing and discussing the reports.
In other words, when reform initiatives, such as the one that seeks to modify the functioning of the Judiciary be approved in the Chamber of Deputies and sent to the Senate of the Republicthe opinions will go directly to the committees that will observe their approval to subsequently discuss them in the plenary session of the Upper House.
Opinions such as the one on the reform of the Judiciary will pass through the Senate Constitutional Affairs Committeewhich will be chaired by Ernestina Godoy, former capital prosecutor and future legal advisor to the federal executive.
On another matter, the Senate of the Republic also gave the green light so that, in the event of force majeure situations that prevent plenary sessions from being held in the Senate’s Session Hall, senators may hold sessions elsewhere, within the precincts of the Senate itself or in some other location in Mexico City.
“In the event that circumstances of force majeure or fortuitous event arise that make the work ofThe Senate of the Republic In the Session Hall, the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic authorizes that the plenary sessions to be held during the First Ordinary Period of Sessions of the First Year of Exercise of the LXVI Legislature, be held in a place other than the Session Hall, within the premises of the Senate of the Republic,” the agreement reads.
The agreement with which it is validate the alternate venues It was approved by a majority of votes but with the disagreement of the opposition benches.
➡️ Join El Sol de México’s WhatsApp channel to not miss the most important information
This means that, in the event that the Senate facilities are blocked by protesters – as happened this Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies – or other causes of force majeure, the plenary sessions may be held at another location.