Fourteen current and former Mexican federal judges have filed a human rights petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), alleging that Mexico’s controversial 2024 judicial reform violated their rights and undermined judicial independence.
Filed by the Vance Center for International Justice, the petition highlights how the reform—enacted under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador—has politicized the judiciary by replacing merit-based appointments with popular elections for judges, a move seen as eroding impartiality and exposing judges to political pressure.
The petition also documents:
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Public defamation of judges by top government officials without evidence;
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Disproportionate negative impacts on women in the judiciary;
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Lack of due process protections during reform implementation.
Rather than seeking to reverse the reform, the judges demand reparations and call for strengthened human rights protections and judicial independence norms within the Inter-American System for future reform efforts across the region.
“This reform, though framed as neutral, has politicized and weakened the judiciary,” said María Emilia Molina, a petitioner and president of the Mexican Association of Women Judges. “It is not too late to remedy the damage done.”