Fabiola Martinez
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, November 3, 2024, p. 3
Felipe de la Mata, magistrate of the upper chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (TEPJF), pointed out that no judge can apply his personal criteria above what is established by the Constitution and, in that sense, if it provides for election of judges, the instruction must be followed.
He was one of the first voices against the allocation by popular vote: it’s not a good idea
he has said since the announcement of the initiative. However, at the same time he maintains that the judges cannot change the rules, much less the will of the people expressed at the polls.
I don’t know if the officials have realized it: we all protest to comply with and enforce the Constitution. Once that is done, there must be judicial elections and carry them out under the principles found in the Constitution
he said in an interview.
De la Mata is the author of the project from which the upper chamber of the TEPJF ratified the integration of the Congress of the Union, and under this circumstance his critics blame him for responsibility for what the majority bloc does or does not do.
In that sense, he regretted that the attacks do not include a substantive debate of the sentence “made by four votes to one, in accordance with the Constitution and based on precedents from 2009 and until today.
“I would have explained to the district judge (who rebuked him on Thursday) that, of course, judges and magistrates, beyond the matter, are obliged to comply with the constitutional text and provide certainty in compliance with our precedents.
If we have had the same way of interpreting the Constitution and the law since at least 2009, it would seem incoherent to me that once we had seen the results we made a change in interpretation, because then it would seem that what we wanted was to vary the results (of the election on 2 June), but not giving justice and much less enforcing the Magna Carta
.
–They accuse him of being subordinate to the 4T.
–I have said it again and again: I do not think it is a good idea for judges, magistrates and ministers to be elected in 2025. My solidarity with the members of the Judiciary. I said it at a conference of judges, I also said it publicly and wrote several articles on the subject. What’s more, I believe I was the first to speak directly about the matter (…) I did not agree with this system of electing judges, but (once in the Magna Carta) we have to carry it out.
–They assign responsibility for legislative initiatives.
–I cannot think about that and say: I am going to resolve this way so that there is no judicial reform.
