Newly elected Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum is planning on tweaking electoral laws by implementing a Constitutional Reform. According to Reuters, “Congress passed the sweeping reform, which stipulates that all judges be elected by popular vote over the next three years, in September.” 

 There is approval for the judicial changes by the mass public after her political party Morena formed in 2014, conducted surveys. “In a move reminiscent of her political mentor, incoming Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday displayed a series of surveys commissioned by her political party that she said show a wide majority approve of controversial judicial changes,” according to the Associated Press. 

 Reason on why the judicial changes could be viewed as controversial is because Mexico’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Norma Pina expressed it will “generate tension between judges’ duty to be independent and impartial and their need to make rulings which are popular in order to attract votes” along with claiming it is demolition of the judiciary with a video on X saying it is not the way forward according to the BBC.  

Sheinbaum has also expressed problems with the court system in Mexico. These problems are adding to the problem with the Justice system in the country. According to The Strait Times, an English-language newspaper based out of Singapore, “Sheinbaum, during a regular press conference, added that the Supreme Court is not attending to the construction of peace and security in Mexico and is releasing criminals.”

President Sheinbaum`s political affiliation is with the Morena party which is a left-wing populist party, her predecessor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is the founder. Before former President Andres Manuel Obrador finishes out his term he is making adjustments to the entire judiciary of the country. “Lawmakers in Mexico City this week began to push through a sweeping constitutional reform that would see Mexicans select judges at all levels of government through elections, a procedure that legal experts say would turn Mexico into an international outlier,” According to CNN. 

This reform will affect the positions of judges throughout Mexico but they will have the chance to run for politics. “When these reforms take place, current judges – approximately 7,000 of them – will lose their positions but will then have the opportunity to run as candidates,” according to Al Jazeera. 

There will also be judges who will resign and be replaced with ones in elections. According to France24, “The more than 1,600 federal judges currently serving will resign, with the majority being replaced in elections in June next year. State legislatures will have 180 days to pass similar legislation for their own court systems, putting another 5,000 or so state judges and magistrates up for election alongside the remaining federal positions in 2027.”

Mexico has had issues with corruption within its Justice system. Police and prosecutors have used torture methods to get the accused persons to confess, according to Human Rights Watch. 

No level of government is safe from corruption and it is implicated that a political party has embezzled a massive amount of funds from the government. According to Vision Humanity, “Corruption reaches some of the highest levels of government, with the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars, illegally surveilling citizens, and allotting contracts based on bribery.”

Overall, Judicial reform is being implemented to fight against corruption within the justice system. Former President AMLO and newly elected President Sheinbaum have been putting efforts to reform the Judicial system with various methods. However, even though the reform could fight corruption within the system, it could build tension among judges in Mexico.