Mexican Senate approves the rules for the judicial election in 2025

( Spanish) –– The Senate of Mexico approved this Thursday in general and particular the opinion that modifies secondary laws of the already enacted judicial reform sent on October 7 by the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. The approved opinion establishes the process to follow for the election of judges, magistrates and ministers in 2025.

With 81 votes in favor and 40 against overall, were approved the reforms to the General Law of the System of Challenge Means and the General Law of Electoral Procedures, regarding the election of judges on June 1, 2025.

The ruling was approved in particular with 79 votes in favor and 39 against with the qualified majority reached by the ruling Morena party and its allies, the Green Ecologist and Labor parties.

The discussion of the opinions of the reforms revolved around Morena’s decision to withdraw an addition that proposed the “right of veto” against candidates for judges by the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Senator Ignacio Mier, vice coordinator of the Morena bench, announced the withdrawal of that proposal after President Sheinbaum expressed her disagreement this Thursday with the veto of the lists of candidate judges that will be issued by the evaluation committees.

“There will not be any veto for any of the candidates,” said Mier during his speech in a session that lasted nearly eight hours. According to the pro-government senator, the change was promoted by some legislators.

During the plenary session, the opposition rejected the reform of secondary laws after arguing “lack of dialogue” with Morena and underlining the possibility of “significant risks for democracy.”

“These reforms were presented three days ago, what time for study? What opening for debate? Precisely because of this absence of dialogue, errors are made in the process,” said Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, senator of the Citizen Movement party.

“These reforms, which are intended to be an advance in the modernization of our judicial system, hide the truth of the significant risks for democracy and the rule of law in our country,” accused the senator of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Karla Guadalupe. Toledo.

The discussion in the Senate Plenary on the secondary laws of the judicial reform takes place in the midst of a division within the judicial branch, after the Federal Judiciary Council voted to provide the Senate with the information required to the election of the judiciary in 2025, a measure categorically rejected by members of the Association of Judges and Magistrates of Mexico (Jufed).

Next Saturday, the Senate is scheduled to carry out the insaculation process (raffle) to define which positions of magistrates and judges will be elected on June 1, 2025, according to what was announced by the president of the chamber, the official senator Gerardo Fernández Noroña.