Vance Center Files Human Rights Petition to IACHR on Behalf of Mexican Supreme Court Justice Candidate

New York, February 17, 2026 – A former candidate for Mexico’s highest court last week filed a petition documenting violations of international human rights resulting from the recent process to elect new judges in Mexico. 

The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, a nonprofit program of the New York City Bar Association, filed the petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in representation of Ricardo Alfredo Sodi Cuéllar, a retired state chief judge and former candidate for Justice of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice, the country’s highest federal court.  

The petition, filed on February 13, states that the recent process to elect new judges in Mexico violated Sodi’s political rights and, more broadly, failed to guarantee key elements of electoral integrity under international rights frameworks. Those failures led to violations of multiple rights under the American Convention on Human Rights. 

Despite concerns, Sodi decided to participate “in good faith” in the elections for federal judges that were held across Mexico in 2025, following the passage of a controversial judicial reform law in 2024.  

However, the petition says, the electoral process took place under “structurally unequal conditions” without guarantees of impartiality, independent oversight, or equitable public access to information.  

The filing documents a series of failures and issues, including voters receiving “cheat sheets” indicating which candidates to select; budget cuts that prevented the participation of significant sectors of the electorate, including voters living abroad and those being held in pre-trial detention; and electoral authorities dismissing legal challenges and reports of irregularities in the electoral process. Authorities also failed to define or clarify procedures for the electoral process before it began, leaving both candidates and the public confused about what to expect or where to get accurate information. 

Taken all together, these issues negatively impacted both the overall electoral process and the conditions under which the petitioner participated, the document says. 

The filing urges the Commission to evaluate the reported violations and take action to protect fundamental rights and issue comprehensive reparations to Sodi. It notes the urgent need for the Commission to respond and define Mexico’s responsibility to protect electoral integrity before another set of judges are elected in the next phase of the electoral process, scheduled for 2027.  

This is the third petition the Vance Center has filed on behalf of Mexican judges impacted by the reform process. In May 2025, the Vance Center represented 14 current and former Mexican federal judges in a petition documenting how the reform violated principles of judicial independence and equality and non-discrimination, particularly impacting the participation of women in the judiciary. The second one was filed for another group of women federal judges in December 2025. 

The controversial overhaul of Mexico’s judicial system, initiated under previous President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and approved in September 2024, imposed sweeping changes to the country’s judicial system, including having judges elected by the public rather than appointed through an established selection process. In August 2024, before the reform’s approval, the New York City Bar Association released a report expressing concern about the proposal.  

“This petition is unique because it highlights violations that took place during the recent judicial election, instead of years after the fact, providing an opportunity for the Commission and the Mexican state to meaningfully address these issues before the next round of elections in 2027,” said Vance Center Associate Executive Director Jaime Chávez Alor. “The issues documented in this petition show clearly that when the rules governing elections are not applied equally or with full transparency, the process can’t guarantee the selection of an independent and ethical judiciary and ends up being little more than a simulation of an election.” 

Upon receiving the petition, the Commission will begin a verification process and evaluate its claims. If appropriate, the Commission can then make recommendations to Mexico to address any human rights violations that did occur, undertake investigations or offer reparations as needed, and adopt measures to ensure these violations do not happen again.  

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is one of the central mechanisms of the Inter-American Human Rights System, along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These two independent, autonomous bodies ensure that member states of the Organization of American States respect and guarantee human rights and uphold their obligations under relevant conventions, treaties, and international instruments. The bodies monitor the status of human rights in member states and, in serious cases, can issue binding recommendations or judgments. 

Read a summary of the petition. 

For media inquiries and more information, contact nsouthwick@nycbar.org or efriedman@nycbar.org. 

Read this press release in Spanish

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About the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice
The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice of the New York City Bar Association advances global justice by engaging lawyers across borders to support civil society and an ethically active legal profession. The Vance Center is a unique collaboration of international lawyers catalyzing public interest innovation that brings together leading law firms and other partners worldwide to pioneer international justice initiatives and provide pro bono legal representation to social justice NGOs. www.vancecenter.org

About the New York City Bar Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org