In a public hearing, commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) questioned the Mexican government regarding the approval of a judicial reform that includes collective dismissals of Mexican judges. It was emphasized that any mass dismissal is contrary to international conventions on human rights.
Commissioner Andrea Pochak recalled that many constitutional reforms in Mexico have been based on the Inter-American Human Rights System. Pochak also pointed out that complaints to the IACHR regarding lack of access to justice involve the Federal Judiciary, Prosecutor's Offices, and police bodies, entities that have not undergone modifications.
The Rapporteur on Human Mobility of the OAS emphasized that the democratization of the Judiciary should not compromise judicial independence and requested the diagnosis used to approve the judicial reform from the Mexican representation.
Commissioner Carlos Bernal Pulido harshly criticized the Mexican judicial reform, calling it an example of "abuse of constitutionalism" that seeks to dismantle institutional checks and balances and controls on the Executive Power. He questioned the lack of a prior hearing for the dismissed judges and magistrates, violating their acquired rights and due process.
The ambassador of Mexico to the OAS defended the judicial reform, rejecting any accusation of arbitrariness or lack of legitimacy in its approval. For his part, the representative of the Legal Counsel of the Presidency stated that the reform is already in effect and cannot be subjected to constitutional control.
Mariclaire Acosta from the collective "The Justice We Want" warned that the judicial reform politicizes justice, jeopardizes its impartiality, and subjects it to political, electoral, and possibly criminal interests. The president of the Mexican Association of Female Judges criticized that the reform was made without diagnosis or methodologies, challenging the State to present them if they exist and alerting about the labor rights of judicial workers that are being affected.
