Mexico to debate judicial reform next week as diplomatic tensions simmer

Mexico to debate judicial reform next week as diplomatic tensions simmer

A controversial reform of Mexico's judiciary will be debated and voted on in Congress next week, a leading ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday, amid concerns from Canada and the U.S that the changes could impact investment and trade.

Canada's government said that it respects Mexico's sovereignty but that investors have expressed concern over the reform, which would elect judges - including Supreme Court justices - by popular vote.

That comes after strong criticism from U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, who has called the reform a "major risk to the functioning of Mexico's democracy."

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday said he had paused relations with the Canadian and U.S. embassies in the country over their criticisms, which he said disrespected Mexico's sovereignty. He stressed the pause was only with the embassies, and not with the countries.

Ricardo Monreal, who will lead the ruling party in the lower house when it begins session on Sunday, said on Wednesday there will likely be two sessions that day: one to swear in lawmakers and another to debate the reform.

He ruled out a same-day passage of the bill.

"We do not want to skip procedural steps or force it through by majority," Monreal said in a press conference. "On the contrary, we want there to be discussion."

The judicial reform will be the first taken up by Congress, Monreal said.

Thousands of judicial workers in Mexico are on strike protesting the proposed reform.

A congressional commission approved the reform on Monday, paving the way for a final debate under the new Congress, in which the ruling Morena party and its allies hold a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house and are one seat short in the Senate.

The reform would see around 7,000 judges, magistrates and justices elected by popular vote, lower experience and age requirements and a reduction in the size of the nation's top court.

Proponents say it will improve democracy and help fix a system that no longer serves the public, but critics say it will cut off judges' careers, skew power to the executive and open the judiciary to criminal influence.

Neil Harrington, a senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the judicial reform and a proposal to eliminate independent oversight agencies "risks undermining the guarantees of protection for business operations in Mexico, including the minimum standard of treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement."

He called on Mexico to continue "essential" dialogue with the private sector.

Lopez Obrador proposed the reform and it is supported by his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office on Oct. 1.