Mexico Supreme Court judges stop work in protest as Congress debates judicial reforms

Mexico’s lower house of Congress launched into a debate on a controversial judicial reform on Tuesday despite a rare, last-ditch work stoppage by Supreme Court judges in protest.

By a majority of eight votes to three, the judges of the Supreme Court decided to join a work stoppage that has seen thousands of judicial workers go on strike, the court said in a statement.

Mexico’s lower house of Congress began the debate on the judicial reform, which has strained relations with the United States and sparked market volatility.

The decision by the Supreme Court judges to join the work stoppage has never happened before in the institution’s history, according to a Supreme Court source.

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The backbone of the constitutional reform, proposed by outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, calls for the election by popular vote of more than 7,000 judges and magistrates, including the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court judges in Mexico are currently nominated by the president, and then affirmed by the Senate.

The proposal is expected to sail through with Congress’ approval where the ruling Morena party enjoys a majority in both chambers.

The reform, supported by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, Lopez Obrador’s protégé, proposes reducing the number of Supreme Court judges to nine from 11, reducing their terms to 12 years and cutting required work experience by half to qualify for ministerial positions.

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Lopez Obrador has argued the reform is necessary to hold judges accountable and reduce corruption.

Critics, however, have said the reform will not impact prosecutors, police and public ministries, which they blame as the real culprits of impunity and corruption.

The reform has generated concern among investors and the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who worry it would weaken a crucial check and balance of the executive branch and damage the business climate in Latin America’s second-largest economy.

Judicial workers, who have widely protested the reform through demonstrations and a work stoppage, blocked the entrance to the lower house, forcing lawmakers to hold the debate session in a sports venue in capital Mexico City.

A judge on Saturday ordered the lower house of Congress to suspend discussions on the reform in response to concerns about judicial workers’ labor rights.

Morena party leader in the lower house, Ricardo Monreal, however, dismissed the judge’s order as “undue and rude interference” and said lawmakers would continue with the debate.

Morena Congress members plan to discuss and approve the reform in Tuesday’s session. On Wednesday, the reform is expected to move on to the Senate, where Morena is just one senator short of a supermajority needed to approve Constitutional reforms.