Over 18,000 people have registered online to run for Supreme Court seats and federal judgeships in Mexico’s contentious new selection process, officials said Monday. The ruling party pushed through a constitutional reform in September to make all federal judges stand for election, replacing the system where court employees and lawyers mainly move up through the ranks. Now, candidates for Supreme Court seats and federal judgeships need only a law degree, a grade point average of 3.2, “five years of professional experience” and five letters of recommendation from neighbors or friends. According to the plan, evaluation committees will have just over a month to review thousands of resumes and whittle the field to about 10 candidates or less for each of the 881 judgeships and nine seats on the Supreme Court. Some critics argue that the current justice system, which is riddled with nepotism, corruption and a lack of accountability, needs to be changed.

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Persons: ”, Arturo Zaldivar, Claudia Sheinbaum, whittle, Sergio Méndez Silva, “, there’s, Minerva Martínez Garza Organizations: Supreme, Foundation for Justice Locations: Nuevo, Mexico