▲ Judge Lilia Mónica López Benítez protested yesterday to the position she will hold in the CJF for five years.Photo the day
Edward Murillo
Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, June 21, 2022, p. 4
After four rounds of voting, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) appointed Judge Lilia Mónica López Benítez as a new member of the Federal Judiciary Council (CJF), which is the body in charge of administering and disciplining the Federal Judicial Power (PJF).
With more than 30 years working as a secretary, judge and magistrate, the new counselor defended the judicial career as a means to preserve the independence of this power.
With nine votes against two, Judge López Benítez was finally victorious and immediately took notice of the position she will hold for five years.
Before the vote, the three candidates answered questions from the ministers about the relevance and operation of the CJF.
In his turn, López Benítez pointed out: In a constitutional and democratic state of law, it corresponds to the people who judge the attention and resolution of social conflicts, protecting the human rights contained in the Constitution and in international treaties. Thus, it is essential to preserve the principle of separation of powers and attend to the independence and autonomy of those who administer justice, as an unavoidable condition to avoid abuses by the entities of power.
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The new counselor is a graduate of the UNAM Law School, but before that she graduated as a primary education teacher at the National School of Teachers.
Already as a lawyer, she joined the PJF as an officer in district courts in criminal matters and rose through the ranks, to be appointed judge and then magistrate of collegiate and circuit courts.
In addition to serving as an imparter of justice, López Benítez also chaired the Mexican Association of Judges, was a member of the Executive Secretariat of Surveillance, Information and Evaluation, as well as president of the Committee on Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data of the CJF, during the period in which this body was chaired by Minister Guillermo Ortiz Mayagoitia, now retired.
In the first round, Judge Marisol Castañeda Pérez was eliminated, obtaining only one vote.
In the second and third rounds, López Benítez surpassed the other candidate, Rosa María Temblador Vidrio, but not with enough votes to obtain a qualified majority, for which the fourth round was necessary.
The CJF is headed by the minister president, two of its members are appointed by the Senate, one by the President of the Republic and the other three by the SCJN.
