Mexican Bar Association and Stanford University send to the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice arguments against AMLO’s “Electoral Plan B”
Both institutions filed an ‘Amicus Curiae‘ before the Mexican Supreme Court on the unconstitutionality of the entire so-called electoral Plan B.
Through the figure of an Amicus Curiae of the Mexican Bar Association, and the Stanford University Law School, they add elements of study on the unconstitutionality of the entire so-called electoral Plan B, promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to submit them to the analysis of the Supreme Court.
The SLS Rule of Law Impact Lab filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of @BMA_Abogados before the Mexican Supreme Court in the pending lawsuit challenging legislation undermining the independence of Mexico’s highly-regarded Instituto Nacional Electoral. https://t.co/cU2KoRixVY
— Stanford Law School (@StanfordLaw) June 1, 2023
The Amicus Curiae (which could translate to “friends of the Court”) is a document that provides arguments and legal opinions to enrich the elements of judgment that the Supreme Court may take into account regarding a specific case to be resolved. It comes from third parties unrelated to the litigation with the objective of strengthening the court’s study of a matter of transcendental nature.
The technical report establishes that the package of reforms that have been approved in Congress attacks the main electoral arbiter in our country,” the press release reads.
The Mexican Bar Association and the Stanford University School of Law provide legal arguments on the decree challenged in Controversy 261/2023, considering that it threatens the independence of electoral institutions in Mexico.
The document highlights the imperative need for the National Electoral Institute (INE) to have adequate infrastructure, resources and workforce strength to ensure the effectiveness and impartiality of the electoral processes to guarantee fair and equitable elections.
The Amicus Curiae was presented to the ministers on May 26, 2023 and was signed by Víctor Oléa Peláez, President of the Mexican Bar Association and Amrit Singh, Executive Director of the Impact Laboratory on the Rule of Law of Stanford Law School and identifies the following serious risks for the INE:
Elimination of 84 percent of the career professional service personnel of the National Electoral Institute in charge of organizing the elections. Both institutions consider that this drastic cut considerably increases the possibilities of electoral fraud.
The decree analyzed in the Court violates the self-regulation capacity of the INE, allowing the Federal Executive to impose new structures, organizational designs and human resources on the institute, which seriously violates its independence, transgressing Mexico’s international obligations related to the democratic principle, the right to vote and the right to participate in genuine periodic elections.
The contested reform grants the Ministry of Finance the power to unilaterally alter the institute’s budget, which seriously limits its autonomy.
The so-called electoral Plan B allows the Executive to intervene in internal decisions of an operational and technical nature within the INE, a situation that violates the international commitments and obligations of our country to guarantee independent and autonomous electoral organizations.
The document was left for the consideration of the ministers who make up the plenary session of the Constitutional Court, and of which they detailed that “it constitutes a relevant contribution from the litigation and academic sector at an international level.”
TYT Newsroom
