Nation elects its judges under shadow of organised crime

Mexico was set to hold unprecedented elections yesterday allowing voters to choose their judges at all levels, in a country where drug cartels and other vested interests regularly seek to alter the course of justice.

- 

The government says the reform making Mexico the world’s only country to select all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote is needed to tackle deep-rooted corruption and impunity.

But there are concerns that the judiciary will be politicised and that it will become easier for criminals to influence the courts with threats and bribery.

While corruption is already an issue, “there is reason to believe that elections may be more easily infiltrated by organised crime than other methods of judicial selection,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

Judicial elections also “entail a risk that the electorate will not choose candidates based on their merit,’ the independent expert told AFP.