November 5, 2024 – The Barra Mexicana de Abogados (Mexican Bar Association) and the Stanford Law School Rule of Law Impact Lab have jointly presented an amicus curiae brief to Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación). This brief addresses actions of unconstitutionality challenging the recently enacted judicial reform in Mexico, also known as “Plan C”. Filed with the nation’s highest court, the document argues that the contested judicial reform infringes upon Mexico’s international human rights obligations.
The enacted reform modifies the constitution to mandate that all state and federal judges—including the justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation—be replaced by judges elected through popular vote. The brief submitted by both organizations contends that the process for adopting this reform violates the rights of indigenous communities, judges, women, and other affected groups to participate in public affairs. Furthermore, it argues that the reform contravenes international standards related to judicial independence and due process.
Moreover, the document asserts that international norms empower the Supreme Court to review constitutional reforms that impact human rights. It also outlines the common practice of constitutional courts in other countries to substantively analyze such reforms.
“Anyone who believes that everything has been said in defense of the Constitution does not understand the current situation in Mexico or the pending legal discussions. The Barra Mexicana de Abogados has always worked with a focus on strengthening the Constitutional State of Law and will continue to contribute its work and conviction to improve access to justice for all Mexicans. With this amicus brief before the SCJN, we reaffirm our defense of the legal profession and justice,” stated Víctor Olé Peláez, President of the Barra Mexicana de Abogados.
The document was presented in response to actions challenging the constitutionality of the reform, brought before the Supreme Court by political parties and various deputies from the Congress of the State of Zacatecas. The political parties involved include the National Action Party (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Movimiento Ciudadano, and Unidad Democrática de Coahuila.
Following the presentation of these actions, on October 31, 2024, a new constitutional reform was published to eliminate the federal judiciary’s power to review constitutional reforms. On October 28, 2024, the Barra Mexicana de Abogados and the Rule of Law Impact Lab issued a joint statement warning that this reform would violate both the Mexican Constitution and Mexico’s international obligations.
“Mexico’s international legal obligations, as well as the practice of other constitutional courts, support the Supreme Court’s power to review this judicial reform and declare it invalid,” affirmed Amrit Singh, Practice Professor and Executive Director of the Rule of Law Impact Lab at Stanford Law School. “Beyond being unlawful, the reform will worsen the problems of access to justice in Mexico. In the United States, the popular election of state court judges has politicized and undermined public confidence in the judicial system.”
Among other precedents, the amicus brief cites a 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court of Argentina, which declared unconstitutional a reform of the Council of the Magistracy aimed at increasing its members and allowing for the popular election of judges. The Argentine Court reasoned that such reform violated the separation of powers and judicial independence by politicizing the process of selecting magistrates.
In February 2024, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed “Plan C,” a sweeping judicial reform that would replace all state and federal judges—approximately 7,000—through popular vote. In May 2024, the Barra Mexicana de Abogados and the Rule of Law Impact Lab published a report concluding that the reform contravened Mexico’s international obligations and posed a serious threat to judicial independence and the rule of law in the country. Despite judicial suspensions granted through federal injunctions, the reform was approved through an expedited process in Congress, lacking sufficient deliberation, and was published on September 15, 2024. On October 1, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the presidency of Mexico.
To read the briefs:
READ THE AMICUS BRIEF IN SPANISH
READ THE AMICUS BRIEF IN ENGLISH
About the Barra Mexicana de Abogados
The Barra Mexicana, Colegio de Abogados, A.C., is a civil association duly constituted under Mexican law, whose corporate purpose is to promote among its members, and in society in general, the spirit of equity and the struggle for the full realization of security, justice, and the defense of all principles of law, as well as to seek the improvement of the administration of justice and the correct application of the law. More information: www.bma.org.mx
About the Rule of Law Impact Lab
The Rule of Law Impact Lab at Stanford Law School studies and deploys legal tools – litigation and legal research, documentation, and advocacy – in close collaboration with local practitioners and academics to combat democratic decline around the world, including the United States. More information: www.law.stanford.edu/rule-of-law-impact-lab
