The economy would be affected by eventual judicial reform

MEXICO CITY (EFE).— The reform of the Judicial Branch promoted by the Mexican government will bring risks to the economy by discouraging investments, overburdening public finances and even putting the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC) at risk, specialists and legal experts agreed.

Ana Lilia Moreno, coordinator of the Competition and Regulation Program of the organization México Evalúa, mentioned that the popular election processes in the Judicial Branch of the Federation (PJF), as proposed by the reform, would delay resolutions in various areas, which would translate into lower economic growth. “The shorter the delay in trials, the greater the economic growth. It has been demonstrated by researchers from the Bank of Mexico that the states of the Republic have grown on average 0.6% in those entities where the resolution of conflicts has been facilitated more,” she commented in the forum ‘Economic impact, challenges and recommendations of the Judicial Reform’.

He added that it is important to have specialized judges with experience in energy, telecommunications, intellectual property, among others, since the reform proposed by the ruling party in Congress means that even a recent graduate can apply for a judgeship through popular vote in elections.

“An incompetent judge could easily take into account aspects that require the expertise of experienced judges, and in this sense, the repercussions could be very serious,” he said.

He added that the proposal could also imply that Mexico be considered a “non-market economy” due to the State’s interference in aspects of regulation and control for the business ecosystem.

This would affect the USMCA, which prohibits relations with non-market economies in one of its chapters.

In addition, it violates three chapters of the USMCA, according to Mariana Campos, general director of Mexico Evalúa: Chapter 14, on investments; Chapter 23 on labor issues; and Chapter 27 on anti-corruption policies.

Mariana explained that these three precepts are on alert because they require independent and impartial courts, which is not guaranteed by the current initiative, which seeks to elect judges, magistrates and ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) at the polls. She pointed out that this mechanism could open the door to other types of interference and influence, where organized crime could exert pressure in the elections or provide money for the campaigns.

At a glance

Cost in the USA

Mariana Campos, director of México Evalúa, cited that the election of 41 state judges in the United States alone in 2021 cost almost 100 million dollars, while in Mexico elections are planned for almost 7,000 judges.

Impunity and cuts

Jorge Sepúlveda, secretary of the Mexican Bar Association, criticized the fact that the reform proposal does not address impunity in just over 94% of cases and implies a smaller budget for the PJF.

Budget

He noted that state judicial branches, which have a 67% greater burden than federal courts, require more revenue, since the federal judicial branch’s budget amounts to approximately 77 billion pesos.

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