Photo: Great Norwegian Encyclopedia

By KELIN DILLON

Mexico’s Senate has approved President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s (AMLO) controversial judicial reform on Wednesday, Sep. 11, despite a temporary suspension of debate due to protesters breaking into the upper house to block the vote. 

The ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party and its allies secured a two-thirds supermajority with 86 votes in favor and 41 against during the marathon session on Wednesday, allowing the contentious reform to pass through Mexico’s upper legislative house after its approval last week in the Chamber of Deputies. 

This approval allows Mexico to become the first country to popularly elect judges at all levels, including the Supreme Court, breaking away from the tradition of Senate affirmation from a presidential shortlist. 

As the main proponent of constitutional reform, Lopez Obrador defended the changes as a means to end judicial servitude to the powerful and white-collar crime. The federal executive aimed to implement the changes before his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, assumed office in October. 

However, critics – including major trade partners like the United States – argue that the reform could compromise Mexico’s judicial independence and weaken the nation’s system of checks and balances. 

Meanwhile, Norma Pina, the chief justice of Mexico’s Supreme Court Justice of the Nation (SCJN), expressed concerns that elected judges could be susceptible to pressure from criminal elements, particularly in a country where drug cartels frequently employ bribery and intimidation to influence officials.