The extinction of the CJF, in September 2025, will give way to the disciplinary court

Andrea Becerril and Fernando Camacho

The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, August 18, 2024, p. 3

The Federal Judicial Council (CJF) will be extinguished in September 2025, when the members of the Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal take office. The Tribunal will assume its functions and will be responsible for initiating, ex officio or by complaint, investigations against judges, magistrates, ministers and other public servants who commit administrative offenses and crimes against the administration of justice.

The Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal will be independent of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and will have full autonomy; the sanctions it issues may include warning, suspension, economic sanction, dismissal and disqualification of public servants, with the exception of the ministers of the SCJN and magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal, which may only be removed in accordance with the terms of Title Four of this Constitution.

In the draft opinion of the judicial reform, the power of that court to sanction was eliminated from the initiative of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acts or omissions contrary to the public interestconsidering that the term It is ambiguous and could lead to discretionary acts.

The court will be made up of five judges, appointed by the citizens for a period of six years in the extraordinary election on the first Sunday of June 2025, when the ministers and half of the judges and magistrates will also be renewed.

Among its functions, the new court will review cases in which judges exceed the deadlines set for resolving tax and criminal matters, which are six months and one year, respectively. Any person may report to the Judicial Disciplinary Court any acts that may be subject to sanction committed by a public servant of the Judicial Branch of the Federation.

The court may request information, summon and warn the persons involved for the development of its investigations, file complaints with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the event of possible commission of crimes, and request the impeachment of ministers before the Chamber of Deputies. Their decisions will be final and unassailable..

The explanatory statement notes that during the analysis forums, the following were repeatedly mentioned: the serious problems faced by the Judiciary, since despite the complaints of workers against bosses for abuse and harassment, the sanctions are minimal, most only warnings.

While the disciplinary court is being established, the CJF will begin the transition for the transfer of material and human resources, which requires that it be fully integrated. Hence, the fifth transitory article specifies that It is necessary to extend the appointments of all acting councillors whose terms expire before the extraordinary election in June 2025.