por 
THE BAJA POST
NEWSROOM
Supporting the judicial reform has come at a high cost for Mexico: the CONATRIB—the National Commission of Superior Courts of Justice of the United Mexican States—has been expelled from the International Association of Judges (IAJ), an organization that promotes judicial independence and raises alarms regarding measures that threaten this principle.
The Mexican government will almost certainly dismiss this decision by the IAJ, labeling the organization “ultraconservative»
The IAJ stated that what the Mexican government termed a “popular election” of judges and magistrates—a process the IAJ has characterized as an assault on the independence of the Judiciary—effectively places the judicial branch at the service of the Executive, a development they view as an aberration.
This electoral process in Mexico—justified by the argument that “the people have the right to choose their judges”—has, in one fell swoop, replaced half of the judiciary, with plans to do the same for the other half. This prospect set off alarm bells within the IAJ from the moment the idea first took shape among members of the Morena party.
Last weekend, these concerns regarding the new model led to the removal of the Mexican delegation from the organization, following the delegation’s expression of support for the government’s reform in June 2024.
Rafael Guerra, president of CONATRIB—who also serves as the influential president of the Mexico City Superior Court of Justice—stated during a meeting at Congress that reforming the judiciary was essential and that the judicial branch could not remain detached from this social momentum.
“It falls to our generation to shoulder the great responsibility for this transformation,” he remarked at the time. This statement was very poorly received within the organization, which has since been deliberating whether or not to keep CONATRIB among its ranks.
