AMLO maintains that the reform of the PJF should include the election of judges in states

Mexico City. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called for the reform of the Judicial Branch at the federal level to be replicated at the state level so that judges and magistrates can be elected, because as they say at this level, governors have a say in their appointments.

Regarding the election of judges, magistrates and ministers, he said that it must be guaranteed that those who are in office have their right to vote. He even mentioned that the initiative contemplates that those who perform well have automatic passage and are selected by a committee. It should also be sought that the number is not limited, so that if there are many candidates, a mechanism such as a raffle or drawing lots can be introduced.

During his press conference, the president recalled some of the harmful practices that prevail in the Judiciary, such as the rigged release of alleged criminals on weekends. How is it possible that out of 130 defendants who were released, 90 were released on weekends? That is, 70 percent of the total. That is why I suggested, he said, that they should rest on Mondays and Tuesdays because judges really like to work on weekends.

On the contrary, there are many people who spend years in prison because they have no way of proving their innocence, “unbelievable but that’s how it is,” so he recalled that he has already sent two initiatives to offer pardons to people who should not be in prison unjustly.