More Than 800 Judges Take Office in Mexico After First Popular Vote

More than 800 new Mexican justices, magistrates, and judges were sworn in and assumed their positions in the country’s judiciary on Sept. 1 as part of the government’s controversial sweeping judicial reforms.

In Mexico City’s Zócalo, the Senate, and local communities, 881 justices, magistrates, and judges took part in ceremonies to be sworn into office after the country’s first-ever elections for the Judicial Branch on June 1.

Their election by popular vote is part of the country’s judicial reforms, which were enacted in September 2024.

Among those sworn in were nine justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and five justices of the new Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal. Two justices of the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF) were also sworn in, along with 15 justices of the TEPJF’s regional chambers, based in Guadalajara, Monterrey, Xalapa, Mexico City, and Toluca. A total of 464 circuit magistrates nationwide and 386 district judges were also sworn in.

At the Senate of the Republic at 3 p.m. local time, 137 judges and magistrates of the new Federal Judicial Branch were sworn in to assume their new positions in a ceremony that lasted approximately 20 minutes. The ceremony was attended by Mexican Secretary of the Interior Rosa Icela Rodríguez, representing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

In his speech, Secretary of Government for Mexico City César Cravioto said that the reform to the judicial branch seeks to provide judges with closer contact with the people.

“I want you to know that the eyes of the inhabitants of the city, and the country, will be on you,” Cravioto said, according to El Universal.

“They will see how you resolve issues, how you carry out your work day after day. But the attention of the inhabitants will not only be in that area, but also in your personal behavior, in how you lead your lives.”

At the same time, outside the Senate, a group of protesters claimed that the June elections for the judicial branch were irregular and favored the ruling party (Morena) and, as such, jeopardized judicial independence.

At 4 p.m., the new justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) participated in an indigenous “purification and consecration” ceremony led by Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, who officially received a baton of command from representatives of Mexico’s indigenous communities.

“In indigenous communities and towns, the baton of command means leading the work, being the father and mother of the people, having the trust of the elders, the youth, the children, and the elderly, that whoever takes the baton of command will take care of it,” Aguilar said during his speech at the ceremony.

“The baton of command imposes the obligation to speak for those who cannot speak, to defend those who cannot defend themselves. That is the profound meaning of the baton of command we are receiving today.”

At the Cuicuilco archaeological site, members of the National Institute of Anthropology and History protested during the ceremony, claiming that it was actually “a baton of command invented by [then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel] López Obrador,” according to El Financiero.

Sheinbaum attended the Supreme Court of Justice, where an installation session was held on Sept. 1 for the members of the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch.

In previous years, the inauguration of SCJN justices took place in solemn sessions at the Mexican Supreme Court.

Judicial Reform

The judicial reform, proposed by López Obrador in February 2024 and approved by the Mexican Congress in September of the same year, changed the method of electing federal ministers, judges, magistrates, and officials of the judiciary in 19 states from one based on professional experience and experience evaluation to one based on popular vote.

Following the elections, the National Electoral Institute published the results of the judicial elections, which had a citizen turnout of just 13.01 percent.

The judicial reforms have been widely criticized by longtime members of the judiciary, who assert that they constitute a setback in the administration of justice in Mexico by eliminating judicial independence, one of the fundamental pillars of the rule of law.

At the international level, the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights raised concerns about the reform’s compatibility with international standards of judicial independence in a preliminary report by the Organization of American States electoral observation mission published on June 6.

“I see that starting this month, the national and international uncertainty regarding how the world views Mexico will cause money and investors to gradually withdraw,” Ulises Fuentes Rodriguez, a former district judge in Guanajuato, told The Epoch Times.

“Little by little, Mexico will lose credibility and certainty, and it will not be an attractive country to invest in.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the job title of César Cravioto, secretary of government for Mexico City. The Epoch Times regrets the error.