Mexico’s Senate passes judicial reform after protesters break into chamber
Al Jazeera
Controversial overhaul that will see judges elected approved 86-41 after debate interrupted by demonstrators arguing changes threaten judicial independence.
Senators in Mexico have approved a judicial overhaul pushed by outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after debate was briefly suspended by protesters who broke into the upper house in a bid to block the vote.
The Senate, dominated by Lopez Obrador’s ruling Morena party and its allies, approved the controversial reform with 86 votes in favour and 41 against in a marathon session on Wednesday, winning the two-thirds supermajority needed to amend the constitution.
Under the new measures, Mexico will become the world’s first country to allow voters to elect judges at all levels – including the country’s Supreme Court. Judges for the top court have typically been affirmed by the Senate from a shortlist submitted by the president.
Lopez Obrador, who wanted the bill approved before he is replaced by his chosen elected successor Claudia Sheinbaum in October, claims that the changes mean the judiciary will cease to be “at the service of the powerful, at the service of white-collar crime”.
But critics, including court employees and law students, say the plan could threaten judicial independence and undermine the system of checks and balances.
