Mexico Makes History: It's the Only Country That Will Elect All Its Judges

Il Mexico di claudia sheinbaum has gone where even the United States had not dared, becoming the first country in the world where all judges, at all levels, are elected by popular vote. Last Sunday, 1 ° June, the first historic one was held election who has finally put the former president's project into action Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and her successor, in office for less than a year: for the first time, 2.600 magistrates both federal and state have been chosen directly by citizens, a practice that in the neighboring United States is only permitted at the state level, while at the federal level it is up to the president to nominate them and Congress to confirm the nomination. In Europe a similar system exists only in Switzerlande Slovenia, but in any case judges are elected by a legislative body, not directly by the people, while in Latin america the only comparable mechanism is in force in Bolivia since 2011, but it only applies to Supreme Court magistrates and has created many problems, given that the Andean country has long been living in a coup-like climate.

An elective justice: the populist risk behind the Sheinbaum reform

La judicial reform signed by Sheinbaum in the wake of his predecessor, it was approved in September 2024 amidst no small amount of controversy, given that the polls expose an independent body that is fundamental to the functioning of democracy to political manipulation and even to drug infiltration, as well as to a dangerous inexperience. A bit like when in some countries including Italy it was thought that ordinary people without any proven competence, just because they were chosen by the voters, could sit in Parliament or even govern. Instead, Mexico has decided that this is how it must be, and at all levels, without exceptions: on Sunday, June 1, judges from minor districts were elected together with 850 federal judges and 11 magistrates from the Supreme Court. To the accusations of having set up an insidiously populist system, the President Sheinbaum he responded that "we cannot forget that the current judiciary, defended by some, is responsible for having supported members of organized crime and for having authorized the spending of billions of pesos of public money to favor white-collar criminals."

Justice for the People: Between Promises of Fairness and Shadows on Turnout and Nepotism

Sheinbaum also spoke about nepotism: “Half of the current magistrates obtained their position because they are relatives of a judge, and not because of merit in their judicial career.” And to those who pointed out that the turnout was a flop (just 13% of those eligible to vote voted, while the government was betting on 20%), the Mexican president responded that “almost 13 million Mexicans went to the polls to exercise, for the first time in history, their right to decide not only who should be a minister, but also a magistrate or judge.” “The message that Mexico sends to the world is clear,” added Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez, “justice is also a people’s issue, because what we want is for the rich, the poor, those who live in the North, those who live in the South, for everyone to have the same access to justice.” "The judicial power - added analyst Alina Duarte - was not a neutral power in Mexico at the service of the poor, but rather a power at the service of big interests. It was an instrument of the oligarchies and the strong powers against the people, who are now organizing and fighting for their emancipation. These elections allow us to question how this power is constituted". The project of reform will go full Completion in 2027, when even the last judges appointed under the old system will be replaced through a popular election.