MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a proposal to limit the scope of a controversial judicial review that would allow all judges to stand for election.
The failed attempt would have allowed only Supreme Court justices to take part in the elections, instead of all the country’s judges, as required by a constitutional amendment approved in September.
Seven of the eleven judges voted in favor of limiting the scope, but a special majority of eight was needed.
In a statement, the court emphasized that the ruling was not about the validity of the judicial review, but only rejected challenges from opposition political parties.
The decision came a week after eight judges submitted their resignations, saying they would leave the court rather than run in judicial elections scheduled for next June.
The court’s three other judges have indicated that they will participate in the elections.
Last week, Mexico’s Congress and a majority of state lawmakers approved a new constitutional amendment that protects constitutional changes from legal challenges, but the Supreme Court said that did not apply in this case because the challenges were made before that amendment was passed.
Before Tuesday’s ruling, thousands of people protested outside the court.
The judicial review has raised concerns both in Mexico and abroad about the weakening of the separation of powers and the rule of law. Critics say allowing all judges to run for office would politicize the judiciary.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has said the initiative by her predecessor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who frequently clashed with the court, will rid the courts of corruption.
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