The Supreme Court: law and reality – El Sol de México

A few days ago, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) decided to invalidate the decree approved by the Legislative Power of the Union, related to the General Law of Social Communication and the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities, informally known as Plan B. This action occurred, according to the nine ministers who voted for it, due to serious violations of the established legislative process

Given this ruling, our commitment to the division of powers is and will always be permanent and immovable, but in a democracy any State authority is subject to public criticism, debate, and scrutiny. In the case of the judicial system, there is the right to question the moral authority of judges and ministers, since there are interests that pressure this elite to make certain decisions, as I pointed out before the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union.

In any case, I have expressed the need to reform a power that over the years has been distant from the real interests of the people of Mexico. There have been some resolutions of the SCJN that, despite the fact that they have been legal and have complied with all the legal formalities of the case, are felt as unfair by the majority of the population.

On the other hand, it should be emphasized that the magistrates of the SCJN, who are appointed by the Senate of the Republic from among the shortlist submitted for consideration by the President of Mexico, assume a democratic responsibility towards this parliamentary representation and towards to town.

No public official should remain oblivious to the reality that our country is experiencing, for example, in relation to the republican austerity policy implemented by the Government of Mexico, which is already followed —even— by autonomous bodies, and whose savings are destined to social, infrastructure and security programs, among others.

However, and as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has referred, if the ministers of the SCJN violate article 127 of the Constitution, which establishes that no public servant may earn more than the head of the federal Executive, then privileges continue to exist for some and a few in a country where poverty deepened due to the application, for 36 years, of a neoliberal policy, concentrating wealth.

Faced with this reality, the ministers enjoy a set of privileges that place them as a golden caste that does not fit in a Republic. We are talking about salaries of three hundred thousand pesos per month; bonus of almost 600 thousand; a fund to eat in luxury restaurants for eighty thousand pesos a month; vacation premium close to one hundred thousand pesos; a special dining room where food and alcoholic beverages can be ordered à la carte; as well as a budget of 5.5 million pesos per month to hire staff, among other privileges.

At this juncture, a reform to the SCJN and the Judiciary takes on particular relevance. It is about discussing how both instances can be more accessible to citizens and closer to social realities, as well as seeking to make the delivery of justice, prompt and expeditious, a reality. Even, the possibility of receiving, at some point, in the Congress of the Union, an initiative to carry out a reform of the Judiciary, which may include the election of the magistrates of the SCJN by means of suffrage, is not ruled out. universal and direct.

And it is that, in a democracy, all issues can and should be discussed. In this sense, it is and will be the will of the majority of citizens who will ultimately decide on their fate. The democratic discussion of a reform to the SCJN and the Judiciary is not and should not be the exception.

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