MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico’s Supreme Court judges voted to suspend the institution’s activities prior to a congressional debate on a controversial judicial reform, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
By a majority of eight votes to three, the judges of the Supreme Court decided to join a work stoppage that has seen thousands of judicial workers go on strike.
The judicial overhaul, which would see more than 7,000 judges and magistrates elected by popular vote, was proposed by outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and is supported by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.
The proposed reform has strained relations with the United States and spooked financial markets over concerns it eliminates checks and balances and could complicate trade relationships.
Mexico’s lower house of Congress is expected to begin debate on reform on Tuesday and eventually approve it, sending it onwards to the Senate.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Writing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Sarah Morland and Cassandra Garrison)
