SENATE APPROVES TWO NEW MINISTERS FOR MEXICO'S EVOLVING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 003648 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX SUBJECT: SENATE APPROVES TWO NEW MINISTERS FOR MEXICO'S EVOLVING SUPREME COURT ¶1. Summary: On December 1, the Senate approved two new Supreme Court ministers with little public debate or review of their qualifications. Luis Maria Aguilar Morales and Arturo Zaldivar Lelo de Larrea assume their prestigious positions at a crucial time in the court's development. Over recent years, the Supreme Court has taken moderate steps to assert its independence after 70 years of one party rule. While the opaque process for nominations suggests more room for growth in terms of transparency, both ministers appear well qualified and offer hope for less political bias on cases in the future. End summary. The Senate Chooses... ¶2. (SBU) Mexico's Supreme Court consists of nine ministers, two of whom recently retired when they reached the end of their 15 year terms. On December 1, the Senate approved Luis Maria Aguilar Morales and Arturo Zaldivar Lelo de Larrea as new Supreme Court Ministers at the conclusion of an underwhelming selection process. Aguilar and Zaldivar replace outgoing ministers Mariano Azuela Guitron and Genaro Gongora Pimentel. The Senate chose from six candidates - a list of three for each vacancy -- nominated by the President. During a Senate hearing held December 1, each aspirant had fifteen minutes to present to Senators his qualifications, philosophy, and reasons for wanting to serve on the court. After their brief presentations, 91 PRI, PAN, and PRD Senators voted to approve Aguilar and 90 members of the same parties voted to approve Zaldivar, easily meeting the 2/3 majority (Mexico's Senate has 128 Senators) required by the Constitution. Labor Party (PT) Senator Ricardo Monreal proposed postponing the vote one week to have more time to investigate the candidates, but his proposal was rejected prior to voting. Other Senators, including Alejandro Gonzalez Alcocer (PAN President of the Justice Committee) and Pablo Gomez (PRD),complained to the press about the lack of information available on the candidates, but neither explained his vote after the hearing. ¶3. (SBU) Not only was the Senate vetting process short and shallow (Calderon submitted to the Senate his list of nominations only eight days prior to the vote),so too was the vetting of the new ministers in the press. Major media outlets gave little coverage to the candidates and their qualifications prior to the vote, but accurately predicted that Aguilar and Zaldivar would be selected, indicating party negotiations had helped position both. After the confirmation of Attorney General (PGR) Arturo Chavez Chavez, rumors swirled that the PRI had agreed to approve Calderon's PGR nominee in exchange for its pick of President of the National Human Rights Commission and a seat on the Supreme Court. Although insiders have played this one close to the vest, some commentators have suggested Zaldivar was backed by the PAN while Aguilar's long legal history appears to link him to the PRI. ...Two New Ministers with Long Legal Histories. ¶4. (U) With long careers in law and the judiciary, Aguilar and Zaldivar easily satisfied the basic eligibility requirements for their new positions. Article 95 of the Mexican Constitution requires that a Supreme Court minister: -be a Mexican citizen by birth, -be at least 35 years old, -have held a law degree for at least ten years, -have a good reputation and never have been convicted of a crime that carries a penalty of a year or more in prison, -have lived in the country for at least two years prior to being nominated, -not have been a State Secretary, Chief of Administration, Attorney General, Senator, Federal Deputy, or Governor in the year prior to his nomination. ¶5. (SBU) Born in Mexico City in 1949, Luis Aguilar most recently served as a member of the Judicial Council, a board belonging to the judicial branch of government which oversees the nomination, ratification, and removal of circuit magistrates and district judges. Aguilar was named to that post in 2004 after a long career in which he had served as a Supreme Court clerk, Chief of Staff to the Supreme Court President, and Administrative Secretary of Communications for the Supreme Court. He has also been a district judge and circuit magistrate in Morelos and Mexico City, serving in six different courts since 1985. He won the National Legion of Honor for Judicial Merit Award, is an honorary member of the Mexican Institute for the "Amparo" (a nonprofit legal organization that promotes analysis and debate of the Mexican Constitution),and was a representative to the Mexican Association of Judges (an entity of the Supreme Court dedicated to the implementation of the 2008 judicial reform). Of the two new ministers, many Supreme Court watchers predict he will be a more conservative, traditionalist minister. However, observers also predict his conservative approach may prove more technical than ideological. In his presentation before the Senate, he emphasized his commitment to human rights and equality. ¶6. (SBU) While Aguilar has a long history serving as a judge and deciding cases, Arturo Zaldivar's background is primarily academic. MEXICO 00003648 002 OF 002 He graduated from the Free School of Law and went on to get his Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he focused mainly on Constitutional law. He has taught at various universities, including UNAM, the Autonomous Technical Institute of Mexico (ITAM),and the Pan-American University. He is on a number of committees, including the academic committee for the Federal Judicial Institute and the technical committee for the Mexican Judicial Reform Magazine, edited by the Supreme Court of Sonora. Additionally, he serves in a number of academic institutions, such as the Ibero-American Institute for Constitutional Law and the Mexican Institute of Constitutional Process Law. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he practiced law for a private firm and wrote numerous articles on issues such as the amparo, oil reform, and the Constitution. He maintains a website and a Facebook page. Many observers predict he will be a more liberal minister with a modern vision for the role of the Court in Mexican democracy. Embassy contact and political analyst Sabino Bastidas described Zaldivar as "brilliant." He predicted Zaldivar would help usher in a new judicial era and thought Zaldivar would support implementation of Mexico's justice reform system. In his presentation before the Senate, Zaldivar emphasized the importance of basic rights and portrayed himself as a defender of individual freedoms. Zaldivar's nomination tips the balance of members as he joins the new majority of ministers who have not served as career judges. For the first time in Mexico's history, Mexico's highest court is composed of more former lawyers and academics than judges. The Outgoing Ministers... ¶7. (SBU) Aguilar and Zaldivar replace Gongora and Azuela as the latter two had reached the end of their 15 year term limit. Gongora and Azuela occupied opposite ends of Mexico's ideological spectrum. Gongora is a leftist and friend of PRD leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador; Azuela boasts conservative opinions and appears to have backed Felipe Calderon during his presidential bid. (Note: Azuela attended meetings with former President Fox at the President's residence to discuss stripping Lopez Obrador of his immunity as Mexico City Mayor, making him vulnerable to prosecution and therein ineligible to run for president. Azuela denies that he made any decisions, pushed any agenda, or violated the Constitution in any way. Nonetheless, his attendance created the perception that he was allied with the center-right Fox administration against Obrador. End Note) ...Generate Subdued Public Reaction ¶8. (SBU) Public reaction towards the incoming and outgoing ministers has been subdued; the recent nominations have generated little public interest and few media stories. Some editorialists lamented the quick rush to approve the candidates with minimal debate. The news outlets that covered the hearing provided few details on the deliberation process and declined to interview the leading Senators on judicial issues. In general, the public seems satisfied with the new ministers but discontent with the section process. ¶9. Comment: Although in many ways the Supreme Court has proven its growing independence by making rulings against the government (reftels),the closed and shallow approval of the newest ministers suggests the Court still has a way to go to fully evolve into a democratic and independent institution. The Senate process was brief and public scrutiny was practically non-existent. The President did not explain his nominee choices and no Senators publically explained their vote. Such limitations restrict the potential for information on possible conflicts of interest from emerging and deprive the public of a chance to review thoroughly the qualifications of nominees to the highest court in Mexico. Despite the opaque nomination process, the Senate appears to have chosen two well qualified candidates who will most likely maintain the balance of the current court. Aguilar brings decades of judicial experience and a more traditionalist worldview, while Zaldivar brings years of research and a more modern outlook. We expect the Court will continue to evolve into a more independent body and become bolder over time in making rulings based on law that are occasionally critical of the standing government. PASCUAL