The Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation (TEPJF) will file criminal complaints with the Attorney General's Office (FGR) against the amparo judges who suspended the evaluation process of the judicial election. After sharply overturning those suspensions, the electoral magistrates pointed out that the amparo judges exceeded their functions by attempting to stop the candidate evaluation process and by trying to involve the Superior Chamber of the TEPJF in their illegal decision.
"As determined in other cases, where district judges have tried to influence the competencies of this Superior Chamber in clear violation of the Constitution they swore to protect, it is advisable to inform the Judiciary Council, the Transition Commission, and file a criminal complaint with the FGR," stated magistrate Felipe de la Mata. TEPJF President Magistrate Mónica Soto added: "We are not determining whether a crime was committed; we are sending the documentation to the relevant authorities for them to make a decision on the matter."
The justification for filing criminal complaints with the FGR is based on the provisions of Article 225 of the Federal Penal Code, sections VI and VIII, which punish crimes against the administration of justice. Mónica Soto emphasized that the TEPJF cannot comply with orders from amparo judges or lower authorities and underlined that this is not the first time an "incompetent judge" has attempted to intervene in the powers of the TEPJF.
The magistrates revoked the amparo suspensions imposed by a judge from Michoacán and another from Jalisco that paralyzed the candidate election process for the extraordinary election of judges. By majority, the Superior Chamber determined that the extraordinary electoral process must continue and that the amparo judges overstepped their functions by ordering the suspension of the evaluation process.
The Evaluation Committee of the Judiciary was ordered to immediately resume the candidate evaluation procedure, as the amparo suspensions were rendered ineffective. According to the determination of the Superior Chamber, the only authority with the power to suspend this process is the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal.
The judges who issued the suspensions in question are Sergio Santamaría Chamú, head of the First District Court in Michoacán, and María Gabriela Ruiz Márquez, from the Sixth Administrative Court in Zapopan, Jalisco. This issue arose due to various resolutions from federal judges granting suspensions concerning acts of the extraordinary federal electoral process for the election of judges, which led to the issuance of agreements by the Evaluation Committee of the Judiciary of the Federation to paralyze this process.
