AMLO is denied: due to the reform “millions of files will be blocked”

MEXICO CITY (El Universal).— Judicial Branch employees said that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is lying when he says that the judicial reform, which seeks to elect magistrates, judges and ministers by popular vote, does not affect the justice system.

In an interview with El Universal, during her first day of indefinite work stoppage, Patricia Aguayo, secretary of the Tenth Collegiate Court on Labor Matters, who has positioned herself as one of the leaders of the protest, said that the presidential reform will affect millions of Mexicans. “The President continues to lie when he says that the reform does not affect the administration of justice, of course it will affect millions of Mexicans who will have to wait for their case to be attended to because there will be a bottleneck and millions of files will be stuck,” she declared.

Patricia Aguayo added that the reform does not guarantee that magistrates, judges and ministers will be well-prepared and without particular interests. “The simple election by popular vote opens the door for people who respond to particular interests to enter, and it also does not guarantee that they will be people with the required training,” she said.

The work stoppage began at midnight on Monday, August 19, and throughout the day courts in Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, Chiapas, Nuevo Leon and other states joined in. The protesters explained that the protest will continue regardless of what judges and magistrates decide about joining the strike. They explained that the civil, labor and commercial courts that are on strike will continue to handle only matters classified as urgent: in labor matters, those related to strikes; in civil matters, those related to children’s rights such as alimony; and in commercial matters, matters related to the forfeiture of assets. They explained that 55,000 workers nationwide will remain on an indefinite strike.

In the early hours of Monday, protesters began to organize committees and divide up the “guards” they would do in three shifts at the headquarters of the Judicial Branch in San Lázaro, Mexico City.

The guards were organized from 7 am to 3 pm, from 3 pm to 11 pm, and from 11 pm to 7 am. Yesterday, Monday, the Second Collegiate Court for Civil Matters, the First Collegiate Court for Labor Matters, the First District Court for Labor Matters, and the First District Court for Civil Matters were in charge of guarding the facilities.

In response to the decision of workers from different circuits in the country to begin a suspension of work on Monday, the National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (Jufed) expressed its complete solidarity.

SuspensionThe Supreme Court

The Supreme Court suspended its scheduled session following a strike by the judiciary.

Private session

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) reported that the session scheduled for Tuesday, August 20, was suspended, since the ministers will hold a private session at the main headquarters of the High Court.

Due to the work stoppage

This comes after workers from the Judiciary began a work stoppage in the early hours of Monday, August 19, in protest against the reform promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that proposes, among other controversial issues, assigning judges by popular election.

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