Mexico's first elected Supreme Court faces critical test of independence

Mexicos first elected Supreme Court will be seated Monday and observers will be watching closely to see whether it will assert its independence from the governing party that held the countrys first judicial electionsJust three of its nine justices have any experience on the high court the rest are new including the courts president Hugo Aguilar a lawyer who spent his career defending Indigenous rightsThe idea of judicial elections came from Mexicos former President Andreacutes Manuel Loacutepez Obrador who frequently clashed with judges who challenged his agenda He said judges elected by the people would be more accountable and less corrupt Critics said electing judges risked politicising the judiciaryThe election was supposed to be nonpartisan but there were instances of voting pamphlets being distributed that identified candidates linked to the governing party Many voters were simply overwhelmed by the 7700 candidates vying for more than 2600 judicial positionsThe Supreme Court however will receive special attention It had been a counterweight at times to the popular Loacutepez Obrador whose Morena party also now holds majorities in both chambers of CongressIf the court wants to ensure its independence it cannot rule in a partisan manner simply to support the governments position said Juanita Goebertus Americas director for Human Rights Watch It must base its positions on lawThe court has nearly 1400 pending cases Here are some that stand outMandatory pretrial detentionIts an issue that has brought broad international criticism to Mexico Loacutepez Obrador expanded the crimes for which someone is automatically jailed pending trial including for some nonviolent crimes The policy appears to violate international treaties which Mexico has signedThe UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office and the InterAmerican Court on Human Rights are among the bodies that have called for Mexico to repeal the policyThe Mexican government says that it is a necessary tool to take on criminal activity and to protect judges But in a country where cases can drag on for years without a trial reaching a conclusion and only one in five of those charged are convicted critics say the policy violates their rights Four of every 10 people in Mexican prisons had not been convicted in 2023 according to the Federal and State Penitentiary Systems censusThe previous court declined to take it up in its final daysAbortion accessWhile the previous court made historic rulings in 2021 and 2023 to expand access to abortion the new court will likely have to weigh in on challenges to states that still have abortion on the books as a crime in their penal codesThe courts 2023 ruling invalidated all federal criminal penalties saying they were an unconstitutional violation of womens human rights However under Mexicos legal system the ruling did not apply to state statutes which must be changed state by stateAna Caacuterdenas director of justice projects in Mexico for the World Justice Project said that uncertainty will prevail about whether the new court will preserve the same line of legal reasoning of recent years on the issue until the justices take up the casesTransgender rightsPrevious courts have handed down decisions expanding transgender rights for example by ruling that civil registry offices must allow transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificate through an administrative procedure without going before a judgeThe court extended that right to children in 2022 But according to Human Rights Watch only seven of Mexicos 32 states allow children to modify their identity documents to reflect their selfperceived gender identityMining concessionsIn 2023 Mexicos governing party rammed changes to laws governing the mining sector through Congress with little to no debateThe changes included reducing the maximum length of concessions from 50 to 30 years and punishing speculation by allowing authorities to cancel concessions if no work is done on them within two yearsThe mining industry much of it foreign has drawn complaints because of ecological damage speculation and the fact that communities around the mines remain among the poorest in Mexico Challenges to those changes await the new courtThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever