JUFED calls on members to vote to cease activities

The National Association of Circuit Magistrates and District Judges of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (JUFED) called on its members to vote “for the temporary suspension of jurisdictional activities derived from the Judicial Reform initiative presented by the Executive Branch, which will be discussed by the Legislative Branch.”

The organization points out that in the event of a majority vote in favor of a strike, only courts and tribunals on duty will be left to deal with cases that require urgent resolution.

In its call, the JUFED states that “the suspension of work will begin at 00:00 hours on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 and will continue until our requests are met, and said suspension will be lifted with the approval of the National and Regional Boards of Directors.”

However, the JUFED, headed by Judge Juana Fuentes Vázquez, points out that “this association is open to a genuine dialogue that will lead to negotiations in which, through consensus, the best proposals can be reached for the good of the Judicial Branch of the Federation as guarantor of legal security in Mexico.”

According to the information released “in meetings of the national boards of directors (August 8, 2024) and jointly with regional ones (9 of the same month and year) it was unanimously approved by those who attended, to carry out the necessary actions for the suspension of jurisdictional activities as a legitimate means of defending judicial independence to avoid the regression of the quality of justice.
in the terms proposed by Plan C; a proposal that was put forward by various owners and circuits at the extraordinary general meeting of June 18, 2024.”

The organization considers that “the temporary suspension of work, in exercise of a right of maximum rank” and that “to justify a measure of such importance, and since there is no precedent at the national level, it is necessary to have the support of the majority of the heads of the federal jurisdictional bodies to have the legitimacy that gives us strength before the executive and legislative powers, but above all, for the attention and respect that society in general deserves.

“The suspension of jurisdictional activity is a legal act that can only be decreed by the majority of a group that enjoys the same right, so substantive and formal requirements must be met.

In its call, it specifies that it seeks to ensure that “the rule of law is respected by guaranteeing judicial independence and that the judicial career is not put at risk through popular vote elections for the positions of Judges, Magistrates and Ministers of the Judicial Branch of the Federation.”

Similarly, the judges and magistrates ask “Congress to stop the current reform process, given its many imperfections, in order to redirect public discussion towards a well-considered comprehensive reform to address the structural causes that have been steadily weakening the quality of justice.

“The suspension of jurisdictional activities will include all the bodies of the Judicial Branch of the Federation that exercise that function, these being the Regional Plenums, Circuit Collegiate Courts, Auxiliary Circuit Collegiate Courts, Appeal Collegiate Courts, Federal Criminal Justice Centers, District Courts, Auxiliary District Courts, National Center of Justice Specialized in Investigation Control, Arrest and Intervention of Communications and Courts
Federal Labor Law on Individual and Collective Affairs.”