Mexico is poised to amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected as part of a judicial overhaul championed by the outgoing president but slammed by critics as a blow to the country’s rule of law.

Mexico is poised to amend its constitution this weekend to require all judges to be elected as part of a judicial overhaul championed by the outgoing president but slammed by critics as a blow to the country’s rule of law.

The amendment passed Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday, and by Thursday it already had been ratified by the required majority of the country’s 32 state legislatures. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would sign and publish the constitutional change on Sunday.

Legal experts and international observers have said the move could endanger Mexico’s democracy by stacking courts with judges loyal to the ruling Morena party, which has a strong grip on both Congress and the presidency after big electoral wins in June.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Yes, but in all fairness if judges in America started off being appointed only - vs the election of up until a SCOTUS appointment - things might be different.

    Canada only appoints, start to finish, so we seem to have far less of a bias issue than America does.

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Huh? All federal judges in the US (Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, and district court judges) are nominated.

      Even at the state level, it’s a mix of election and nomination based on the level.