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MEXICO CITY —A Mexican judge ordered the Lower House of Congress not to discuss a controversial judicial reform scheduled to be taken up by lawmakers the first week of September, according to a legal document reviewed by Reuters on Saturday.
The judicial reform, pushed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has generated tensions with the United States and has sparked concern in global financial markets.
The order to temporarily block lawmakers from debating and voting on the reform was issued by District Judge Martha Eugenia Magaña López in the Mexican state of Morelos, in response to concerns about judicial workers' labor rights.
The reform would see around 7,000 judges, magistrates and justices elected by popular vote, lower experience and age requirements and reduce the size of the nation's top court.
Proponents say it will improve democracy and help fix a system that no longer serves the public, but critics say it will cut off judges' careers, skew power to the executive and open the judiciary to criminal influence.
The judge's order issued on Saturday would prohibit lawmakers in the Lower House of Congress from discussing the reform until September 4, when the judge will rule on whether to issue a permanent suspension.
Congress has ignored similar orders from judges in the past, leading to doubt as to whether the lawmakers will heed the judge's order or take up the reform anyway.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar has expressed strong criticism of the proposed judicial overhaul, calling it a "major risk to the functioning of Mexico's democracy." Canada's government has also criticized it.
Lopez Obrador said earlier this week that he had paused relations with the Canadian and U.S. embassies in the country over their criticisms, which he said disrespected Mexico's sovereignty. He stressed the pause was only with the embassies, and not with the countries.
The ruling Morena party and its allies hold a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house and are one seat short in the Senate.
Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.