Lawyers Council Focuses on Judicial Appointments in Mexico

The Vance Center’s Lawyers Council for Civil and Economic Rights published a call for action and a policy brief (available in Spanish) analyzing Mexico’s process for appointing Supreme Court Justices, in light of a vacancy that will occur at the end of the year. The President will propose three candidates to the Senate, and the Senate will choose one.

Mexican (Excelsior, Eje Central, and 24 horas) and international press took note of the Lawyers Council’s initiative, which encourages the Mexican legal community and particularly the bar associations to participate actively in the process. The policy brief relies on international human rights standards and comparable experience in the region to offer considerations for the process.

The Lawyers Council also organized with the Mexican organizations Mexico Evalua and Observatorio de Designaciones Públicas a webinar series to discuss how to improve the process of appointing Supreme Court Justices. S. Todd Crider and Antonia Stolper, members of the Vance Center Committee and the Lawyers Council, participated in the first and second of three webinars.

In the webinar “International perspective,” Crider underlined the importance that the appointment process has for the international private sector. The Lawyers Council, he explained, considers the rule of law particularly important when companies consider investing in other countries.

Stolper closed the webinar “The participation of the legal community,” making a call for action to the Mexican bar associations to engage in the discussion and evaluation of the candidates proposed by the President. Vance Center Latin America Policy Director Jaime Chavez Alor moderated the panel.

The Lawyers Council has undertaken similar efforts in Guatemala and in Peru.

The Lawyers Council for Civil and Economic Rights brings together private practice law professionals in the Americas to combat corruption and to support the rule of law and the work of the civil society. The Lawyers Council consists of 18 lawyers from 14 countries, distinguished in private legal practice nationally and regionally, with demonstrated civic commitment.