The trusts of the Judicial Branch 2023/10/16

For a #HorizontalSociety

The pro-government deputies criticized that these instruments take advantage of banking secrecy. They also pointed out that, at their discretion, “they are mostly used to pay for luxuries, privileges and excesses of high officials.” They also emphasized that the “privileges of the Judiciary are in agony, the only thing that keeps them alive is the artificial respiration that the opposition is granting them.” President López Obrador himself guaranteed that the rights of the more than 55 thousand public servants and workers of this Branch are protected and safeguarded, since no one is going to be left “without their basic benefits, no court is going to be closed or any fire anyone.”

Legislators from the bloc antagonistic to the government stated that this is a strategy that seeks to “suffocate any body or power that is not in line with the federal government.” They stressed that "this is what happened with the INE, this is what has happened with the Inai and today they want to perpetrate this assault on the autonomy of a Power of the Union." Among the arguments used in defense of said financial instruments was the request that an open parliament be held to debate the issue in depth, with the intention of thoroughly analyzing the possible effects that there may be, especially in labor matters.

For its part, the SCJN has pointed out that six trusts are directly related to employer obligations and workers' acquired rights, both labor and social security (pension, housing, health coverage and retirement). Furthermore, he has stressed that the operational personnel of the Judiciary who could be affected by this decision, in "acquired rights recognized in the Constitution and in the Federal Law of Workers in the Service of the State", represent more than 60% of the workforce.

It is highly likely that this decision will face unconstitutionality actions once it is approved in plenary. Surely we will see the ministers of the Court forced to decide on this matter. Therefore, this confrontation should be analyzed in a much broader scope.

The electoral competition is underway. AMLO has announced that he will seek to achieve a qualified majority that will allow him to make constitutional changes in his last month in office. The so-called “Plan C” to make modifications in electoral matters and the National Guard, together with the issue of the Court ministers being elected by popular vote, will constitute one of the central axes of the campaign proposal to continue with the call Fourth Transformation.

For all these reasons, it is clear that the battle is just beginning. We will have to wait until AMLO repeats his criticisms against the members of the Judiciary in the morning, whom he has previously described as “corrupt.” It is foreseeable that he will focus his speech against the ministers, arguing that—being judges and part of the controversy—they will only want to “defend their privileges” and canonries. In this scenario, the big question will be: what narrative will the SCJN use in the face of this barrage? Will it only defend the rights of workers or will it go further on the political level? Will citizens come out to defend the Judiciary? Finally, will this topic be useful to Morena or will it become a boomerang? The coin is in the air.

#HorizontalSociety will play a fundamental role in the discussion, especially in understanding how our institutions could evolve. Today, when many will think about defending the Judiciary, we must also keep in mind that its efficiency and popular closeness are in doubt in the eyes of the great popular majorities. This is where the common thread of the debate will be that allows us to take advantage of this episode, not for the benefit of electoral manipulation, but for a true evolution in the administration of justice in the country.