Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
1st May 2025 - An event organised by the UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism
The Transformation of Mexican Constitutional Justice
Speaker: Professor Ana Micaela Alterio (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México) Chair: Natalia Morales Cerda (UCL Laws)
About the talk
This presentation examined the evolution of constitutional justice in Mexico over the last 30 years, starting with the judicial reform of 1994, which created a Constitutional Court. The analysis highlights key milestones in the Court's operations, including the 2011 human rights reform. The discussion then focuses on how Andrés Manuel López Obrador's election in 2018 changed the relationship between the Court and the Executive Power, leading to a confrontation. As part of this confrontation, the judiciary developed jurisprudential mechanisms to challenge certain government policies, such as suspending laws and rulings with general effects. In response, the government proposed a package of constitutional reforms targeting the judiciary.
After Claudia Sheinbaum's decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election, Congress passed these reforms. Under the banner of advancing the 'fourth transformation' of the country, the system of division of powers was modified entirely. The judicial system underwent structural changes, including the introduction of popular elections for all federal and local judges. A Disciplinary Tribunal was established to oversee the functioning of the judiciary, and the Amparo trial's effects were limited to restrict the power of judges in the face of 'popular will'. Several autonomous constitutional bodies were also dissolved. This process has resulted in the concentration of power within a nationalist and dubiously liberal narrative. While it seeks to legitimise itself by invoking the ideals of participatory democracy and inter-branch collaboration, the reality is the subordination of all power to the presidential will.
1st May 2025 - An event organised by the UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism
The Transformation of Mexican Constitutional Justice
Speaker: Professor Ana Micaela Alterio (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México) Chair: Natalia Morales Cerda (UCL Laws)
About the talk
This presentation examined the evolution of constitutional justice in Mexico over the last 30 years, starting with the judicial reform of 1994, which created a Constitutional Court. The analysis highlights key milestones in the Court's operations, including the 2011 human rights reform. The discussion then focuses on how Andrés Manuel López Obrador's election in 2018 changed the relationship between the Court and the Executive Power, leading to a confrontation. As part of this confrontation, the judiciary developed jurisprudential mechanisms to challenge certain government policies, such as suspending laws and rulings with general effects. In response, the government proposed a package of constitutional reforms targeting the judiciary.
After Claudia Sheinbaum's decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election, Congress passed these reforms. Under the banner of advancing the 'fourth transformation' of the country, the system of division of powers was modified entirely. The judicial system underwent structural changes, including the introduction of popular elections for all federal and local judges. A Disciplinary Tribunal was established to oversee the functioning of the judiciary, and the Amparo trial's effects were limited to restrict the power of judges in the face of 'popular will'. Several autonomous constitutional bodies were also dissolved. This process has resulted in the concentration of power within a nationalist and dubiously liberal narrative. While it seeks to legitimise itself by invoking the ideals of participatory democracy and inter-branch collaboration, the reality is the subordination of all power to the presidential will.
